You're Not The Only One
by AirHawk19
Summary: It's been about one month since the Great Thaw. Elsa and Anna are reconnecting and things are peaceful in Arendelle. But, in a kingdom to the west, a young Queen is thrust on a journey much like Elsa's. Can Elsa and Anna help this young monarch and reunite her with her sister and people?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen or any characters or materials taken from the animated movie. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Author's Note: Here's the more polished version of the story of Alexa, from my songfic, Let It Go Alexa's version.**

Chapter 1.

It was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. King Jonathan and Queen Alice of Darrowdale had been praying for a child, but what they got was, well, not what they were expecting. As the Queen held their first born daughter in her arms they saw plainly that she would never be accepted by people. She was a strong, happy, healthy baby, with dark brown hair and hazel brown eyes. By all accounts a normal baby. Except for the pair of soft silver gray eagles wings that spouted from her shoulder blades and the faint glow of magic that surrounded her.

Her parents loved her anyway, but they feared that the people would curse their daughter as a demon or a witch, even though she was neither. So they kept her locked in her room and had her wear a long cape that covered her wings. As she grew, her parents knew her powers and desire to fly would grow stronger, but it was for her own good that she stay in her room they reasoned, and so, the Princess Alexa's first memories were of being locked in a cage.

Three years later, the king and queen had a second daughter. They named her Hannah and she was born a completely normal blond haired, green eyed girl. Deciding it would be the best way to protect them, they kept their daughters apart, only letting them have very limited and strictly supervised contact with each other.

Alexa, despite being slightly resentful of her sister's much greater freedom, loved her with a deep, fiercely burning love that sisters have for each other. Hannah didn't understand why her sister was always locked in her room, but still loved her with that sweet, innocent, sisterly love that never falters. So, the sisters grew up in their own worlds, so to speak, hardly knowing, but still loving each other.

However, as Alexa grew older and gained greater power and strength, she found her prison harder and harder to bear.

"AGH!" came a scream of anger and frustration followed by a slam into the wall.

King Jonathan and Queen Alice rushed to their eldest daughter's door.

"Alexa! Alexa! Answer me this minute!" cried King Jonathan, panicking lest his daughter had hurt herself.

Alexa moaned as she stood up from her impact with the wall. Her left wing was sore, but not broken. Her restless spirit still burned with fury! In fact, there were physical flames burning around her hands from the intensity of her rage.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed, the flames erupting from her hands as she punched the wall. Fortunately, her parents had learned years ago to fireproof her room.

"Alexa, please, we've been through this. You can't let anyone know about your wings or powers because it could put you, Hannah, or the kingdom at risk."

"I don't care! I want to fly! My wings are burning and I want… No, I need, to feel the wind in my face and the sun on my back. Please…" the last word was barely a whisper, but it cut the king and queen to the heart.

"Jonathan, couldn't we let her…" began the queen.

"No." was the stern reply.

"But she's…"

"No. I'm sorry, but it's just too dangerous."

The king and his wife walked away with heavy hearts.

Alexa, her rage spent, collapsed onto her bed, shedding silent tears of pain, sorrow, and regret. She loved her parents and she knew that they loved her, but it was just so hard not to be able to fly or use her magic. Her soul longed to fly, her wings burned to feel the wind and carry her though and above the clouds.

Suddenly there was a timid knock on her door. Alexa did not respond, having sunk into depression, a small raincloud dropping a silent but steady rain on her as she lay face down on her bed.

"Alexa?" came a hesitant voice after a second, louder knock.

No response.

"Look, I know you're upset, but, do you want to talk?" asked Hannah, wondering what to do.

"Go away." was the muffled, yet cold response.

"Ok. Bye." said Hannah sadly, returning to her room.

Hannah threw herself onto her bed. Alexa was sixteen and she was thirteen. Ever since Alexa had become a teenager she had become more and more violent, often screaming in the middle of the night and ramming herself against the walls in vain attempts to break free. Hannah didn't understand why her parents kept Alexa locked in her room when she so desperately wanted to be free. Hannah knew nothing of her sister's wings and powers, just that her sister had a 'condition' that made it impossible for her to be seen by anyone except their parents and a few trusted members of the castle staff.

The few times she had seen her, Alexa was always mostly covered by a long cape that fell to the floor and dragged behind her, looking rather like a pair of wings folded gracefully down her back. Apparently, whatever the 'condition' was, it had something to do with her back as it was always covered by that cape and she was very sensitive of it.

As Hannah lay contemplating her sister, Alexa was lying on her own bed, (the raincloud now gone) in much the same attitude, contemplating Hannah.

She had noticed that as Hannah grew, she was more and more vibrant and full of life and happiness. Alexa envied her sister's freedom to at least roam the castle whenever she chose, but, deep down she didn't want her to get hurt and so stayed in her room. In truth, she could get out if she really wanted to. The only thing that stopped her was the possibility that someone she loved might get hurt. In truth, that was the only bond that could hold Alexa, not iron bars on the windows, not locked and reenforced doors, but just the deep love she bore for her family. But sometimes, the pain in her heart was just too much to bear and she just had to lash out. Often at night her screams could be heard throughout the castle, sounding like a creature in great pain, as she fought between her intensely burning desire to be free and her duty to her parents and the kingdom.

And so the sisters remained for the rest of the day, lost in their thoughts.

One day some weeks later, the king and queen announced that they were taking a trip to a neighboring kingdom. They would be gone six weeks as their journey took them over the ocean. They never reached their destination. Ten days into the journey, their ship was caught in a hurricane and sank to the bottom of the sea. The whole kingdom mourned the passing of the king and his queen, but only the youngest daughter attended the memorial service.

Hannah walked slowly up to her sister's door and after a momentary pause, knocked.

"Alexa? C'mon. I know you're in there and you can hear me. People have been asking where you've been." she said, hoping that her reclusive sister would at least acknowledge her existence.

Alexa was too numb with grief and pain to even look up from her pillow, a large raincloud dropping a silent, steady rain on her as she mourned her parents.

Hannah sighed and continued, "Alexa, please. It's just the two of us now. I need you. Please let me in."

A soft moan of agony escaped Alexa's lips, but Hannah never heard it. She sighed and turned, returning to her own room.

Five years later, Alexa turned twenty-one. She was now of age and would be crowned Queen of Darrowdale. In the past five years both girls had changed. Alexa was silent most of the time, she hadn't screamed once since her parent's death and no longer rammed the walls of her prison, seeming to have given up on life or else submitted completely to her fate. Hannah was bright and sparkling and full of life and vigor. She loved everything and everyone and was a ray of sunshine to everyone she met.

On the day of the coronation, Hannah was awakened by someone knocking on her door.

"Who is it?" she asked groggily.

"It's time to get up Your Highness. It's your sister's coronation today." said Ivy, the Housekeeper from behind the door.

Hannah at once shot out of bed exclaiming, "It's coronation day! I've gotta get ready!"

She hurriedly dressed and burst out of her room laughing and started singing,

_"The windows are open and so are the doors!  
I didn't know they did that any more.  
Who knew we own ten thousand salad plates?  
For years I've roamed these empty halls.  
Why have a ballroom with no balls?  
But finally they're opening up the gates!  
There'll be actual real live people.  
It'll be wonderfully strange.  
Boy, am I so ready for this change!_

_ 'Cause for the first time in like ever,  
There'll be music, there'll be light.  
For the first time in like ever,  
I'll be dancing through the night.  
Don't know if I'm elated or gassy,  
But I'm somewhere in that zone,  
'Cause for the first time in like ever,  
I won't be alone._

_ Imagine me there gown and all,  
Fetchingly draped against the wall,  
A picture of sophisticated grace.  
I suddenly see him standing there,  
A handsome stranger tall and fair.  
I wanna stuff this chocolate in my face.  
But then we laugh and talk all evening,  
Though it's totally bizarre.  
Nothing like my lonely life so far!_

_ 'Cause for the first time in like ever,  
There'll be laughter, there'll be fun.  
For the first time in like ever,  
I might be noticed by the one.  
And I know it's totally crazy,  
To think I'll find romance!  
But for the first time in like ever,  
At least I got a chance."_

In her own room as she prepared for the coronation, Alexa tried to calm her nerves and restrain her wild spirit. To help herself focus, she sang softly,

_"Don't let them in. Don't let them see. Be the tame girl you always have to be.  
Conceal. Don't feel. Put on a show. Make one wrong move and everyone will know.  
But it's only for today…"_

Hannah sang,

_"It's only for today!"_

Alexa,

"_It's agony to wait…"_

Hannah,

"_It's agony to wait!"_

Alexa,

_"Tell the guards to open up… the gate!"_

Hannah,

_"The gate!_

_For the first time in like ever,  
I'm getting what I'm dreaming of.  
A chance change my lonely world.  
A chance to shine out like the sun.  
And I know it all ends tomorrow,  
So it has to be today!  
'Cause for the first time in like ever,  
For the first time in like ever,  
Nothing's in my way!"_

As Hannah sang she ran and danced through the streets of the city. Everyone who saw her wondered at the young princess as she skipped and sang through the streets, shaking people's hands, helping random strangers with carrying baskets and things, playing with the children… it was unheard of for royalty to act so. However, it endeared Hannah to the people as did her sunshiny personality. They wondered if her sister the Queen, would be as pleasant.

Soon it was time for the coronation. Everyone filled the chapel just outside the castle walls. Queen Alexa was beautiful, in a silver dress and green cape that flowed behind her uncannily like a pair of wings. Her thick shoulder-length brunette hair was done up in an elegant style of many small braids and her hazel eyes had a greenish hue today. She stood before the Elder, who held the crown in his hands. It was a simple golden circlet set with a single ruby in the center. Alexa bowed her head and bent her knees slightly to receive the crown, then took up the scepter in her left hand, (the symbol of ruling) and the golden scales in her right, (the symbol of wisdom and justice). She then turned to face the people as the Elder said the traditional ceremonial passage in the ancient tongue of their ancestors, that basically told the ruler their first concern was the safety and fair governing of their people, etc. etc.

As she stood there, Alexa felt her nerves getting the better of her. She glanced at her hands and saw frost starting to creep over the scepter and scales! Once it was over, Alexa quickly returned the scepter and scales to the Elder as the people said, "Long live Queen Alexa!" Fortunately, no one had seen the frost and her secret was safe. Alexa breathed a sigh of relief.

At the coronation party, the sisters had to wait on opposite sides of the room to be introduced as per the custom.

Markus, the Royal Steward, cleared his throat and said, "Introducing, Her Majesty, Queen Alexa of Darrowdale!"

Alexa walked gracefully to her place before the throne and gave a proper, gracious bow of her head as the people applauded.

Markus continued, "And introducing, Her Royal Highness, Princess Hannah of Darrowdale!"

Hannah, suddenly shy, walked up to her place beside her sister, giving little self-conscious waves to the crowd as they clapped. Then the dancing began and soon everyone was too busy dancing and talking to notice the sisters.

Alexa leaned a little closer to her sister and softly said, "Hi."

Hannah, startled at being spoken to, stammered, "Hi, who? Me, hi? Ehem! Uh, hi."

"Hi. So, this is what a party looks like?" Alexa asked.

"Yeah, I guess." said Hannah.

"It's… warmer than I thought it'd be." said Alexa.

"Why don't you take off your cape?" asked Hannah.

Alexa stiffened and clutched the throat of her cape saying, "I can't."

"Why not?" asked Hannah, wondering what the big deal was.

"I just can't!" said Alexa agitatedly, turning away from her sister.

Hannah's face dropped into a sad countenance. But she couldn't be sad for long. She was soon dancing and all the young men wanted to claim her, for she danced exceptionally well, having a fondness for it and a good physique. Alexa watched her younger sister dancing and having fun, with both pleasure and amazement. She had no idea Hannah could dance like that! It was beautiful to watch her spin and twirl about the room like a giant pink butterfly with her long blond hair done up in braids in an elegant fashion and her green eyes sparkling with the fun and exercise. However, Alexa couldn't help but envy her sister's carefree gallivanting.

She was soon jarred out of her observations of her sister by Markus saying, "You're Majesty, allow me to present His Excellency the Duke of Weaseltown." with a bow.

"Weselton! It's Weselton you fool! Why doesn't anyone get the name right?" exclaimed a short elderly man with white hair and a mustache before he remembered his manners and said in a most dignified manner, "Your Highness, as your closest partner in trade, I believe it only fitting I give you your first dance as Queen."

He went through a series of ridiculous moves, ending with so forceful a bow that his hair piece flipped down over the front of his head, causing Alexa to chuckle.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I don't dance." she said politely.

"Oh." said the Duke looking sad.

"But, my sister does." she said, gently grabbing afore said personage as she passed and presenting her to the Duke.

"What? No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no…" said Hannah as the Duke grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the dance floor saying,

"Splendid! Come along my dear! Ha, ha! You're in for a real treat!" completely oblivious to the Princess's protests.

Alexa watched the dance and was highly amused as the Duke's dancing was even more ridiculous than his request performance. He strutted and leapt like a peacock one second, only to begin leaping around like a monkey the next. He also managed to land on his partner's toes with amazing accuracy and frequency. As soon as the dance was over, Hannah ran to her sister panting for breath.

"Quite a spry old fellow, isn't he?" Alexa asked, looking very amused.

"Especially for a man in three inch heels." panted Hannah.

The two sisters chuckled at the Duke's ridiculous dancing, but then an awkward silence dropped between them.

"Excuse me. I'm gonna go get some punch." said Hannah rather awkwardly.

Alexa nodded and the younger sister made for the opposite end of the room as quickly as she could. As she stood there cooling her cheeks, which had turned scarlet from the dancing and the awkwardness between her and Alexa, she suddenly wondered why Alexa hated her so much. Old memories flooded up in Hannah's mind and, after downing about five glasses of punch, decided it was now or never. She would confront Alexa and find out why her sister hated her.

Her nerves thus steeled by fruit juice and sparkling water (non-alcoholic of course), Hannah stalked over to her sister and said, "Why do you hate me, Alexa?"

She hadn't meant to be as loud as she was, but suddenly everyone in the room gasped and all eyes turned on the Queen and the Princess. Alexa went pale with shock that her sister would think she hated her, then she went red from embarrassment at having all eyes on her. For several moments she couldn't speak, her mind was racing and she didn't know what to say.

"Well?" said Hannah impatiently.

Alexa finally found her voice and slowly said, "Hannah, I don't hate you. I-I can't explain why I've kept to myself all these years, but you have to believe me, I love you. More than my life."

"I don't believe you. You're still hiding something." said Hannah starting to lose her temper.

"Hannah, please." Alexa said in a warning tone.

"Tell me the truth!" exclaimed Hannah, grabbing her sister's cape as the latter backed away.

The cape pulled off and everyone, including Hannah, gasped in shock! There, sprouting from Alexa's back, was a pair of magnificent silver gray wings! Alexa froze in shock and horror! Suddenly someone cried out, "Demon! The Queen has been a demon all along!"

Suddenly the air was filled with angry shouts as the panicked crowd began to turn on Alexa. Alexa looked around with fear and panic etched into her features. Her wings reflexively arched in a defensive position as she looked around for an escape. For a moment her eyes locked with Hannah's and Hannah saw the absolute terror in Alexa's hazel eyes. It was the look of a trapped animal. Alexa suddenly threw off her crown and ran.

She ran to the doors and knocked them open with a single blow from her hand, revealing her superhuman strength, since the double doors were twenty-foot tall solid oak with silver hardware. Alexa then spread her wings and, for the first time in her life, took off into the night sky. Hannah ran to the door just in time to see her sister winging her way towards the east.

"Alexa. What have I done?" she cried turning and running to her room.

**Author's Note: No, this is not a parody, but a continuation after the events of Frozen. Alexa and Hannah, while very similar in many ways to Elsa and Anna, are two very different people. However, Alexa will meet Elsa and Anna in the next chapter. Spoilers!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Alexa flew through the cool night air in a blind panic. She had acted entirely out of instinct, no thought, no plan, just reacted to the situation out of fear and desperation. As she flew though, she gradually calmed and noticed for the first time that she _wa_s flying! Her huge wings beat steadily and strongly, carrying her through the air with ease, despite their disuse. They knew instinctively how to carry her through the sky, how to navigate the winds and air-currents. Alexa was elated by the sensation of flying! The rush of wind past her face, the surge of adrenaline, the complete freedom of the skies. She loosed a laugh of pure joy at finally being free!

She didn't know how far or long she flew, but her wings did eventually tire and she began to look for a place to rest. Looking down as she passed over a mountain, Alexa saw a castle made of pure ice! It was so lonely and isolated she decided it would be perfect for her, with a few changes.

Suddenly inspired, she started to sing her own version of Let It Go. As she sang she flew slowly over the path Elsa had walked just one short month before, her heart giving vent to her emotions through song. As she sang, joy blossomed in her heart and she turned the ice staircase to one of living wood, with blooming vines all along the rails. She then landed in front of the doors of the castle and ran inside. Once she reached the same spot Elsa had started her magic she allowed her power to come flowing out of her hands, channeling it into the ground and transforming the ice into living wood. Then her spell crept upwards, growing trees like pillars. Then as the final touch she caused them all to burst into blossom, like the joy that was in her heart from finally being free.

Alexa then pulled her hair out of its braids and let it fall in her thick shoulder-length mane, then ripped off the silver dress to reveal a bright forest green cotton tunic and rich earth brown wool pants, with a pair of black knee-high, flat-soled leather boots. A black leather belt with a silver buckle around her waist completed the ensemble. (She had been wearing all this under her coronation dress. She didn't make it with her magic because unlike Elsa, she couldn't do that.)

She then strode out onto the balcony as the sun rose and spread her wings regally as she finished the song. Alexa stood there for a while, just soaking the sunlight into her pale skin and slightly dulled feathers, her wings spreading and stretching as far as they could to catch as much sunlight as possible. Its rays were warm and comfortable, like an old blanket. So comfortable in fact, that she caused a lounge chair made of branches covered in soft springy moss to grow on the balcony in the full sunlight. She actually fell asleep while soaking up rays into her back, with her wings spread to catch as much sun as possible, for she was exhausted from the flight, the release of emotions, and using so much magic.

Meanwhile, down in Arendelle...

"I'm gonna get you, Anna!" exclaimed Elsa as she chased her younger sister around the library, where she had been peacefully reading a book until Anna had snuck up behind her and snatched it away.

Anna, being quite nimble and willing to do things Elsa wasn't (like vaulting over tables and chairs while Elsa went around them) she led her sister a merry chase, holding the book high above her head like a banner. She soon grew tired of the chase and climbed a ladder, perching on the top and flipping through the book, pretending to read it.

"How can you read this? It's soooo boring." she asked as Elsa started up the ladder.

"Unlike some people, I like to keep myself informed." said Elsa deftly plucking the book from Anna's hand.

"Hey! I was reading that!" Anna exclaimed in mock annoyance.

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Elsa quipped back, a grin splitting her face from ear to ear.

Anna laughed.

"Come on. Let's get down off of here before we're caught in this rather, embarrassing position." said Elsa skillfully sliding down the ladder much to her sister's surprise.

"I didn't know you could slide down ladders!" she exclaimed, following her sister's example.

"Who do you think taught you?" asked Elsa, playfully tweaking her ear.

"Ouch! Hey!" said Anna in mock distress.

Elsa smiled, but then suddenly stiffened.

Anna caught the look at once and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone is in my ice castle. Someone of great magical power." said Elsa, her tone and look serious.

Alexa woke to find the sun had reached the three o'clock hour. Since it was summer the sun was still delightfully warm as it shone down on her. At least, she'd classify it as delightfully warm. Most other people would probably find it oppressively hot, but Alexa was not most other people. Due to her powers, heat and cold didn't really bother her, though, which she preferred depended on her mood. She stretched and yawned, arching her back and stretching her wings, popping the joints with a satisfying crack.

"Ah! That's better." she said as she stood.

She was mildly surprised by a loud, hungry rumble from her belly. Alexa rubbed her stomach to ease the discomfort, as it complained of its empty condition with a series of rumbles, grumbles, and hunger pangs.

"Hmm. Guess I'd better get something to eat. When was the last time I ate anyway?" she wondered aloud, scratching her head as she went inside, making the lounge chair she had slept on disappear.

As she walked through her palace, she noticed a long hall filled with various fruit trees. A flick of her wrist and a stream of amber magic flew about the trees, turning the blossoms into fruit. Alexa lazily strolled through the hall, picking whatever fruit took her fancy. Soon her hunger was satisfied and thus refreshed, she decided to explore her new home in depth.

Elsa walked quickly along a path that only she knew. Though she had only walked it a few times, she knew it's every twist and turn, it's every stick and stone. She knew as soon as she felt the magic that lingered over her ice castle disappear only to be replaced by another magic force, that another magic user had moved into her former castle.

"Elsa… wait… up…" Anna panted as she struggled to keep up with her sister's fast pace.

"Sorry, Anna. I'm just curious about this new magic user." said Elsa, slowing her pace.

Anna managed a tired grin as she caught up and worked to get her labored breathing back to a more normal rate.

The two sisters continued up the mountain. Soon they hit the permanent snowline, but they couldn't see the castle yet. They continued until they found Elsa's ice staircase, except it was made of wood now. Living wood, and blooming vines grew entwined around the railings, releasing faint, but sweet perfumes into the air. Elsa and Anna were so amazed by the stairs that they failed to see the castle until they were about three-quarters of the way there.

"Oh, wow!" was all Elsa could say as she was stopped dead in her tracks by the impressive wooden structure.

It was the same design as her castle when she first built it, but it was made entirely of living, blooming wood. The whole thing looked like spring, yet there were elements of the other three seasons somehow suggested in the varying shades and tones. Another amazing thing was, the magic was entirely contained to the castle and the staircase, no other areas were affected.

"What do you think the person is like, Elsa?" asked Anna, holding onto her sister's arm.

"I don't know. All I know for sure is that I can sense a power greater than mine and somewhat more controlled." said the elder sister as she bravely led the way to the doors.

Alexa, having explored the palace from top to bottom, was lounging in a drawing room munching on a juicy red apple. She could sense Elsa's presence, but she didn't really care. Right now, she was more concerned with the apple in her hand. Even though she had eaten only a couple hours ago, she had grown hungry again and had been eating apples and hazelnuts for the past five minutes.

Elsa and Anna entered the palace and stared in awe. Where there had been ice there was now wood, foliage, and blossom. Where there had been an ice fountain there was a fountain of pure cool mountain water flowing, welcoming all to drink with its soothing sounds and pleasing appearance. Anna at once tried it before Elsa could stop her and found it was indeed very pure and refreshing, being neither cold nor bitter. Elsa a bit more tentatively tried the sparklingly clear water, and found it sweetly pure and delicious. She drank deeply.

Their thirst quenched, the sisters cautiously looked around the castle for its new inhabitant. Elsa was drawn by the magical presence she felt and soon they found Alexa in the drawing room with a large bowl of apples and another of hazelnuts on the table beside the couch she reclined on. She glanced back at the two sisters holding hands and looking a bit nervous on the threshold. Alexa grabbed a hazelnut, cracked it in her hand, picked the meat out, and popped it in her mouth, tossing the shell in a bucket.

"You can come in you know. I don't bite." she said after she had swallowed the nutmeat.

Elsa and Anna walked in and stood in front of the couch, which was on Alexa's left side as she leaned against the arm with her feet on the couch.

Alexa motioned to the other seats in the room saying, "Sit, sit. Make yourselves comfortable. This was your castle once after all, young Snow Queen."

Elsa and Anna took the offered seats and glanced at each other, wondering what to say, but their host soon spoke again.

"Hazelnuts? Apples?" she asked holding out the bowls to her guests.

"No, thank you. I'm fine." said Elsa politely.

Anna, however, helped herself to a large apple and promptly took a huge bite.

"Anna!" Elsa scolded, looking embarrassed by her sister's bad manners.

"Oh! Sorry. Thanks for the apple." said Anna with her mouth full.

Elsa groaned in exasperation and face palmed.

Alexa just laughed. A loud, full voiced laugh had she, not unpleasant, but somewhat startling if you weren't used to it.

"It's perfectly alright. I have a younger sister too and, well… Let's just say she's not one for formalities, but then again, neither am I really." said the young queen closing her eyes as she lounged quite comfortably on the moss upholstered couch, replete for the moment and relaxed.

Elsa and Anna both relaxed at seeing her so calm and friendly. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Elsa thought she had fallen asleep as her chest gently rose and fell in a deep, steady rhythm. Alexa however, wasn't asleep, but listening to her guests to see (or in this case hear) what they would do. After some mental debate, Elsa decided to wake her and ask her the questions she needed to ask. Just as she stood and was about to gently shake the sleeping girl's shoulder, Alexa stirred and opened her eyes.

She smiled and sat up saying warmly, "What is it, young Snow Queen? Ask me what you will and I will do my best to answer."

"First of all, my name is Elsa. Second, I'd like to know your name, where you're from, and why you are here?" said Elsa.

"Ah! So you are indeed the Queen of Arendelle. I knew it. I could sense your magical powers and no doubt you could sense mine. My name is Alexa, former Queen of Darrowdale as of last night. I am here because my wings were accidentally revealed to my people by my younger sister Hannah at my coronation party last night. I fled when they started to turn on me in panic, calling me monster and demon. I reacted out of pure instinct and for the first time in my life, I flew. It was totally amazing! I had never felt so free, having been locked in my room all my life by my parents. I know they loved me and were only trying to protect me, but it still hurt, especially since I hardly ever got to see my kid sister." Alexa's face was very sad.

"You're not the only one." said Elsa softly, her eyes filling with tears.

"What?" Alexa asked, looking up into Elsa's face.

"I said you're not the only one. I too had a very similar experience, indeed, a very similar life. I know how you feel." said Elsa, looking kindly at the young woman.

**Author's Note: I did not put the lyrics to Alexa's version of Let It Go, because I already posted it as a separate fanfic and I wanted to focus on describing her actions rather than the words she was singing. To get the full impact of the scene, read Let It Go Alexa's version.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Back in Darrowdale, people were recovering from the shock of discovering the Queen's wings. After the initial fear and panic though, some began to see reason, but many still maintained that Queen Alexa had to be a monster. Why else would she look so freaky? And why else would she hide those wings?

Hannah however, just wanted her sister back. With the Queen gone, the running of the kingdom fell once again to Markus. As Steward, he had the highest rank in the kingdom beneath the current monarch, and so was the only one with the authority to assume leadership. He too wanted Alexa back, for more reasons than one.

However, the kingdom was in far greater peril than anyone realized. The Duke of Weselton and the Duke of Southmire both wanted to exploit Darrowdale, albeit in different ways. The Duke of Weselton was only looking for financial gain, while the Duke of Southmire wanted to rule the kingdom and gain the title of Kingship for himself, being discontent with his station.

So the two met in secret and agreed to help each other as it was mutually beneficial for both of them to do so.

"Are you sure you know the plan?" asked the Duke of Southmire.

"Yes, yes! I bring my ships to the rocky point to the west, where I wait for your signal to come backup your forces." said the Duke of Weselton impatiently.

"And what is the signal?" said the Duke of Southmire.

"The firing of your port-side cannon twice." said the other Duke with an exasperated sigh.

"Good. Do not forget it." said the Southmire Duke as he stood and left.

**Author's Note: I apologize for the short chapter, but I am terrible at doing villainous plotting scenes. Next chapter will definitely be longer. I would also like to thank everyone who Reviewed, Followed, and/or Favorited this story. I really appreciate it.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

In Alexa's tree palace, the three young women talked for a long time. Elsa and Anna told Alexa the story of their childhood and Alexa listened with great interest.

"…so you see, we really suffered more than we needed to. You can learn to control your powers and don't have to worry about hurting your sister. I'm sure she misses you." said Anna as she finished the story.

Alexa said, "That's not why I left."

"What?" Anna questioned, not quite sure she heard that right.

"I know I can learn to control my powers. I left because my sister hates me and because my people hate me. She'll be better off without me anyway, people will eventually trust her." said Alexa with a heavy hearted sigh.

A look of understanding flashed across Elsa's face. Of course! It wasn't her powers so much that she was afraid of, it was putting her sister in danger through her reputation! Elsa wondered just how bad the public reaction had been to convince Alexa that her sister hated her and would be better off without her.

"Well, we told you our life story. How about you tell us yours?" said Elsa, looking kindly at Alexa.

Alexa sighed again. "Ok. But it's a long and tragic story." she said before beginning.

"I was born at 7 o'clock in the morning on Tuesday, August 8th, in the castle hospital ward. My parents, upon learning that my 'condition' of wings and magical powers was permanent, decided it best for my own protection to keep me locked in my room until I was 'ready' to be out in the world. From my first memory I was imprisoned, my windows were all barred, the door was reinforced and locked from the outside, and the walls, floor, and ceiling were reinforced as well.

From the first I was told, 'No flying. Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show.' And always it was, 'For your own good, Alexa. For the good of the kingdom, Alexa.' All I wanted was to be free, to feel the wind in my face and the sun on my back…

But then, when I was three, Hannah was born on October the 25th at 2:00am in the morning! She was a feisty little bugger, squalling away like there was no tomorrow as soon as her lungs filled. She was also very pretty, with blond hair and green eyes like emeralds. And she was always, always, always getting herself into some form of trouble or other." Alexa chuckled, remembering her sister's antics, which she could usually hear the crashes of, no matter where in the castle or immediate grounds Hannah was.

"Anyway, we hardly ever saw each other, only having brief and closely supervised contact with each other, but I loved her and still love her with all my heart! I would do anything to protect her from harm. In truth, despite our parents strongly discouraging it, we would talk together for hours through my door and so, we did get to know each other somewhat. But we lived in different worlds, though in all honesty we were both prisoners of our parents' fears. Many of those fears were superimposed onto me and I developed a true dread of hurting my sister or someone else and being thought a monster, as my powers grew stronger faster than I could control them through suppression alone. And so, I became a recluse.

After my parents' death, when I was sixteen, I became too numb with pain and grief to talk and eventually, Hannah stopped trying. We grew apart over the next five years and didn't even speak to each other until the coronation party. It was awkward, seeing each other for like, the first time ever, more or less, and neither of us really knew what to say. I started a conversation with her and she seemed to enjoy it, in an awkward kind of way. Afterwards, she went to join the dancing and I watched her. Until that night, I had no idea that clumsy, klutzy, Hannah could dace so well!

She was like a great pink butterfly in her pink satin gown with her hair done up in the latest fashion and her green eyes sparkling. When she stopped to catch her breath, I semi-tricked her into dancing with the Duke of Weselton. I couldn't believe how bad his dancing was and when Hannah got back we had a bit of a laugh over it, but then, a tension fell between us. She left to get some punch and when she came back, she demanded to know why I hated her. I tried to explain without revealing my secret, but she was stubborn and would have the whole truth. She accidentally pulled my cape off that I always wore to conceal my wings, when I started to back away from her.

When my cape fell away, everyone gasped in shock and horror! Then the crowd started to turn on me, calling me demon and monster. I panicked, for I feared they would kill me and instinct took over. I don't really remember anything after that except throwing my crown off and running out of the castle. Next thing I knew I was flying and the rest you know or guess." said Alexa, finishing her tale just as her stomach let out a rumble.

Alexa colored a very little bit in embarrassment, but then Elsa and Anna's stomachs let out hungry rumbles too. As the sisters chuckled nervously, coloring visibly, Alexa laughed out loud.

"Well, it looks like I'm not the only one who feels it's time for a meal. Come, you are my guests and I must feed you like a good host." she said grinning from ear to ear and leading them to the dinning hall.

When they entered, the sisters gasped in awe at the place! There was a long table made of branches that grew from the floor and intertwined in a hopelessly complex pattern and chairs of similar design, only not growing out of the floor so they could be moved. The ceiling was high and vaulted with flying buttresses of branches that were in full bloom, spreading the sweet perfume of fresh spring flowers throughout the hall. Even Elsa was stunned by the beauty of it all and almost wished she had the spring powers Alexa so clearly possessed.

She and Anna were snapped back to reality by Alexa's voice saying, "Wait here. Sit down wherever you like, but wait here. I'll be back."

She disappeared a moment later out a side door. Elsa and Anna looked at each other, then sat down across from each other at one end of the long table. About half an hour later, Alexa appeared carrying two large trays of food and setting them down on the table, along with wooden plates, cups, and eating utensils for her guests that she had balanced expertly on her head. She retreated out the door again and came back a moment later with two more trays and a plate, cup, and utensils for herself.

After setting her place, Elsa and Anna were somewhat surprised when, instead of sitting down like they had expected her to, she began to serve them generous helpings of what she had obviously prepared. There was venison and quail, mashed potatoes and gravy, a huge bowl of garden salad and another of fruit, fresh bread, butter, and cheese. To drink Alexa had fresh juice and water.

Anna and Elsa were amazed that she was able to hunt, gather, clean, and cook all the things they saw before them and Alexa, catching their amazed looks, said, "My powers encompass the four elements, the four seasons, healing, and protecting." she said sitting down at the head of the table (with Elsa on her right side and Anna on her left) and helping herself to the food.

"Ah." Elsa and Anna said at the same time, sort of understanding now how she was able to work so quickly.

"So, your kingdom does trade with Weselton?" Elsa asked, trying not to sound disgusted by the name.

"Weaseltown is more like it." Alexa snorted. "I disliked that pompous peacock of a Duke the moment I laid eyes on him. He is a man not to be trusted." she said, a threatening glare in her eye as she took a drink of water.

Elsa thought she had offended Alexa, but after a moment saw that she wasn't glaring at her but the memory of the Duke.

Anna however seized the moment to be funny.

"Weselton! It's Weselton you fool!" she exclaimed in a surprisingly good imitation of the Duke, even mimicking his offended expression very well.

"Anna! Please!" Elsa exclaimed mortified.

But Alexa burst out laughing saying, "Yes, it technically is Weselton, but to the rest of the world it always and forever will be Weaseltown, for it is full of weasels. Elsa, you need not stand on ceremony, nor worry about being proper with me. I couldn't care less about the strict rules of royal etiquette, but no food fights. I can't stand to waste food." she added the last part because Anna looked like she was about to toss some mashed potatoes at her sister, but instead stuck them in her mouth with a sheepish look on her face.

Elsa, sensing something of a story behind this asked, "And why is that?"

"Because my metabolism is ten times faster than that of the average human. My wings, powers, and superhuman strength put a much higher energy demand on my body, so I tend to need to eat more often and in larger quantities than the average human. Also, I just don't like wastefulness." Alexa said with a pointed, yet playful look at Anna.

"Hey! I never started the food fights when we were kids! That was always Elsa!" Anna exclaimed pointing at her sister.

"Anna! That's personal!" exclaimed Elsa, coloring quite nicely.

"Aha! So it is true! No fear, Elsa, children will be children. I understand. You were what? Four? Five? It doesn't matter. That's all in the past. Anyway, what do you two like to do in your spare time?" asked Alexa, helping herself to some more fruit and garden salad.

"Building snowmen!" Anna exclaimed promptly.

Elsa chuckled and, having heard the underlying question, 'what's it like to spend time with your sister?' answered, "Yes, Anna loves to build snowmen with me. She's always loved my powers, but that's not why she loves me. She loves me because I'm her sister and I love her because she's my sister, even though she's a little trouble maker who tends to pester me when I'm working." Elsa shot Anna a playful glare.

Anna just rolled her eyes and shamelessly asked, "What's for dessert?"

Elsa just rolled her eyes and held her head in her hand, shaking it in embarrassed exasperation.

Alexa looked stunned that she was ready for dessert already, despite the fact that she had just said her own metabolic rate was ten times faster than the average human.

"Uh, um, are you sure you're ready for dessert? Already?" she said, scratching her head and looking confused.

"You just said your metabolism was ten times faster than ours. Why are you so surprised?" said Anna.

"I knew that in theory, but you have to understand, I've only ever shared a meal with my family a few times in twenty-one years. It takes a bit of getting used to." said Alexa, standing and heading into the kitchen.

She came back with a large chocolate cheese cake, topped with fresh homemade whipped cream and strawberries. She promptly served Anna a huge piece. Anna's eyes sparkled as she took a huge bite of her dessert. She hummed with pleasure at how sweet and delicious it was.

Alexa cracked a smile and said, "I'm glad to see you like it. Elsa? Dessert?"

"Oh, sure, why not?" said Elsa with a shrug. "Oh, my! This is delicious! Where did you learn to cook like this?" she asked with her mouth full, completely forgetting her royal etiquette in her surprise at Alexa's skills.

Alexa grinned wider as she sat down and said, "I read a lot of cook books while I was locked up. And apparently, I have a natural knack for it. This was only my second time cooking. The first being early on my coronation day just for the heck of it."

Elsa and Anna's jaws dropped! Fortunately Elsa had already swallowed her cheese cake and Anna's fork froze half way to her mouth. They recovered from their shock a few moments later.

Anna asked, "Why would you want to learn to cook? I mean, didn't you have servants or something to cook for you?"

Alexa smiled and started to sing,

_"Make me a servant,  
Humble and meek.  
Lord, let me lift up,  
Those who are weak.  
And may the prayer of my heart always be,_

_ Make me a servant,  
Make me a servant,  
Make me a servant, today."_

"Why would you want to be a servant?" Anna asked in disbelief.

"Be cause it keeps things in perspective. And, in truth I am a servant…"

"A servant of the people." said Elsa, finishing Alexa's thought.

"Yes, but unfortunately, they hate me and will not have me, so I can't go back." said Alexa, looking sad.

She didn't have time to be sad for long, because at that moment both she and Elsa sensed the approach of Marshmallow, Elsa's former snow bodyguard. Marshmallow had crawled out of the gorge he had fallen into when Hans had attacked Elsa's palace a month ago. It had taken him that long to regrow his lost leg and now he made his way towards Elsa's ice palace. When he saw what had happened to it, he became enraged and roaring, charged the palace!

Alexa, Elsa, and Anna all jumped up and ran to the front doors. Elsa actually beat Alexa to the entrance hall and stood in between Marshmallow and the others.

"Stop!" she cried, holding up her hand and stopping the creature in his tracks.

Marshmallow froze, confused as to why his mistress would be defending the person that had taken over her ice castle. But, she was his mistress and he had been created to protect and obey her, so he stopped. Marshmallow retracted his spikes and stood down, sitting on his haunches. Elsa lowered her hand and walked up to him gently laying a hand on his arm.

"Good. Marshmallow, this is Alexa, she's going to be living here for now. You are to let her be. Ok?" said Elsa, looking kindly at the giant snow creature.

"But, Mistress, where will you stay?" the loyal creature asked.

"I live in Aerendelle now, where I belong. No, you can't come with me Marshmallow, you'd scare the poor people half to death, and I don't think you'd fit in town anyway." said Elsa.

"But then what do I do? I was created to protect you." the beast said sadly.

Elsa thought for a moment before saying, "Come." and walking out the doors.

Marshmallow stood up and followed her, with Alexa and Anna following close behind. Elsa led them to the eastern side of the mountain. There she created another ice castle, this one smaller and 'stockier' than her first castle, but just perfect for a house for Marshmallow.

"There! This shall be your home and you will guard the mountain from intruders for me. How do you like your new home?" she said.

"It's perfect, Mistress, like everything you do. Oh! Before I forget, here. I found it in the gorge." said Marshmallow holding out Elsa's gold crown that she had thrown away after she finished her ice castle.

"Thank you, Marshmallow. Now, go explore your new home." said Elsa smiling as the snow guard gently set the crown on her head.

Marshmallow bowed and happily ran to check out his house.

Alexa, who had been hovering with her wings this whole time, landed and walked up to Elsa, laying her hand on Elsa's shoulder and saying, "That was a very good thing you did."

"Well, I made him. I couldn't very well just destroy him and I couldn't take him with me or let him run loose. This was the best solution I could come up with." said Elsa.

"Yes. Come, it's late. You two should stay with me for the night." said Alexa, for the sun had set and Anna started to shiver in the cold mountain air.

Elsa walked over and wrapped her arms around her sister.

"Yes, I believe you're right." she said seeing that Anna wouldn't make it down the mountain at night.

Alexa walked over and took Anna in her arms, wrapping her huge wings around her like a blanket. Anna was surprised at how soft and warm Alexa's feathers were. She was soon quite warm and cozy as Alexa carried her back to the castle, since she was only wearing summer apparel. Anna actually fell asleep on the way back and was tucked up in a comfy moss covered bed by Elsa once they got back.

Alexa then led Elsa to the room next door, which was identical to the room Anna was in, with a window looking south towards Arendelle. The bed was intertwined branches growing from the floor, with a thick mattress of soft springy moss, a pillow of the same, and a wool blanket. There was a washstand growing out of the opposite wall, with a wooden basin, pitcher, and soap dish, and a soft wool towel hanging on the side. Below the window was a table growing out of the floor and a non-rooted chair beside it. All in all, it was a sparsely furnished, but comfortable room and Elsa was soon snuggled under the blanket and drifting off into the realm of dreams.

**Author's Note: I do not own the lyrics to Make Me A Servant. I don't know who does, I just know it's a worship song that I like and that I thought would fit the moment. No copyright infringement intended.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

The next morning, Elsa awoke to the sound of birds singing outside her window. At first she didn't know where she was, but after she woke up enough she remembered. She was in Alexa's tree palace, that used to be her ice palace. Elsa chuckled smiling for no real reason in particular other than she was happy and life was good as she washed her face and brushed her hair with a wooden brush she found on the washstand. After she put her hair back in its usual single braid over her left shoulder with her bangs pushed back on her head, she went to go wake up Anna.

Anna was indeed still snoring contentedly with one arm flung over her head, the other flung out to the side hanging off the bed along with one leg, the other knee pointed at the ceiling, and her head turned at what looked like a very painful angle. Her hair was, as always, a total rats nest and the blanket looked like a tornado hit it. Elsa wondered how the heck Anna could sleep like that and just what she did in her sleep to make her hair and blanket look so bad. Shaking her head at her lazy sibling, Elsa shook Anna's shoulders.

"Huh? Wha…? I didn't order a chocolate fountain…" Anna half way woke up then fell back asleep.

Elsa shook her harder saying, "Wake up, Anna. It's not polite to make your host keep breakfast waiting."

This time Anna woke up saying sleepily, "Hi, Elsa. You say something about breakfast?"

"Ugh! Seriously! Is food all you think about?" asked Elsa, crossing her arms.

"In the morning yeah. I need energy to finish waking up." said Anna yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Elsa smiled and shook her head, chuckling at Anna's early morning honesty.

"Well, hurry up and get ready. I'm sure Alexa's up by now, so I'm gonna go see if I can help her with breakfast." she said turning to walk out the door.

"Wait, Elsa! Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to cook?" Anna said as she braided her hair, but Elsa was already gone.

"Oh, well. I guess Alexa won't let her mess up too bad anyway." said Anna as she finished her hair and skipped out of her room to explore the castle. She hadn't had the opportunity to do so before, when Elsa lived in it, but now, she was gonna take full advantage of every minute she had in this place.

Elsa walked through the halls of the castle admiring the curves and lines of nature displayed in everything on every front. Everything seemed so alive and powerful and pretty at the same time. Her ice castle had been beautiful too in its own way. It had displayed the crystalline beauty of ice in all its wintery glory, blue and white, clear and cold. She liked the cold, it invigorated her blood and excited her spirit. But she liked warmth too, as it soothed her and made her feel closer to those she cared about.

Anyway, as she walked along the passage, her mind turned back to her task, finding Alexa. She walked for some time before she realized, she couldn't sense Alexa's presence. She figured Alexa was out flying and would eventually be back. Until then Elsa decided to see what the castle looked like as a spring paradise in full bloom.

Alexa was indeed out flying. She had been out there since just before dawn. The feeling of flight was so new to her and yet so familiar, she didn't have to think to fly, she just did it. It was so much a part of her that it was as easy and instinctual as breathing. Alexa closed her eyes and just enjoyed feeling the wind in her face and the early morning sun on her back. All too soon, she figured her guests were awake and hungry, so she turned back to home. She met Elsa first, who was standing on the balcony enjoying the sun as she came in to land.

"Hello, Alexa. It's a nice day for flying." said Elsa, looking up at the birds in the sky.

"Yes, very nice weather for flying." Alexa replied, looking up at the sky a bit longingly.

"What's it like to fly?" Elsa asked suddenly.

"What?"

"What's it like to fly? You obviously enjoy it a lot, so what's it like?" Elsa repeated.

"I don't think I could describe it. It's, complete and utter freedom, weightlessness, a feeling you can't get from anything else." said Alexa, her eyes dreamy and far away.

"Oh. Well, thanks for trying. We should probably go make breakfast now." said Elsa turing to go inside.

"Yeah. Sure. Wait? Did you say we?" said Alexa.

"Yes. I intend to help you." said Elsa.

"That won't be necessary. I can handle it." said Alexa.

"I insist. It's the lest I can do to thank you for your hospitality." said Elsa.

"Very well. " said Alexa, sensing it was pointless to argue with Elsa when she was in this mood.

Anna passed by the kitchen and heard quite a ruckus in there.

"No, no, no! That is not how you hold a knife! What are you trying to do? Impale yourself? Or me?!" came Alexa's voice. She sounded anything but calm.

"I'm sorry, Alexa." Elsa's voice was much softer, she sounded like she was about to cry.

Just then Anna burst into the kitchen saying, "No one talks to my sister like that! Wait, what?"

Anna was flabbergasted. Instead of seeing a stressed out Alexa and a crying Elsa like she expected, she saw both of them snickering at her.

"Gotcha!" they both exclaimed at once, doubling over in fits of laughter.

"Oh, oh, oh! Oh, the look on your face! Priceless! Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Alexa gasped out as she rolled on the floor laughing.

"Really, Anna! Did you think I'd forgotten about last night?" said Elsa, who managed to stay on her feet, but continued to laugh.

"Ha, ha, very funny. What about breakfast?" said Anna, smiling, but still hungry.

Alexa managed to stop laughing and stood up, dusting herself off (not that there was really any dust on her) and setting to work at once. Now that they could see what was going on, Elsa and Anna were even more impressed by Alexa's powers. Alexa placed a large bowl onto the table and caused various fruit trees and plants to produce fruit. She then nodded to Elsa, who, after remembering that she was supposed to be helping, picked and rinsed the fruit under a small raincloud Alexa had created and cut up the pears, apples, and peaches before putting it all in the bowl to make a fruit salad.

Meanwhile, Alexa crafted four skillets of burning coals and started frying bacon, sausage, eggs, and pancakes as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Alexa was apparently very good and multi-tasking as she didn't burn anything and soon set large quantities of everything on wooden platters and carried two of them out to the dinning hall. Elsa carried the other two and Anna brought the maple syrup, butter, milk, and orange juice on two trays that she managed to expertly balance on her hands.

This time, the meal was relatively quiet, for they all knew that Elsa and Anna had to return to Arenedelle immediately afterwards. As soon as they were finished, Elsa and Anna bid goodbye to Alexa, promising to return soon. Alexa bid them goodbye, hugging them both with both her arms and wings. The two sisters then returned home to Arendelle.

Once they were out of sight, Alexa went back inside and cleaned up the breakfast dishes. She then decided to go flying again.

The next day in Darrowdale, Hannah was faced with many many questions about Alexa. Why did she have wings? Why had she hidden them? Did she have any other powers they should know about? Was she coming back? How could they defeat her?

"Stop! Stop, stop, stop! I don't know why my sister has wings, nor why she hid them, nor if she has any other powers! And as for how you can defeat her? Why would you want to do that? What harm has she ever done you?" said the Princess, very angrily.

"But, she's so, freaky looking! She must be a threat to look like that! It's not natural for a person to have wings!" exclaimed a man shuddering.

"Yeah!" came a chorus of agreements.

"You can say what you like, but this much I know, Queen Alexa, my sister, would never do anything to harm Darrowdale. In fact, she would give her own life to protect it. Say what you like, but you'll never convince me she's a monster." said Hannah, walking out of the room and unceremoniously slamming the door.

Later that night, Hannah was startled by a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" she called out softly.

"It's me, Princess Hannah." said Markus, coming into the room and looking worried.

"What is it, Markus? What's wrong?" asked Hannah, worried by Markus's tone and expression.

"There is trouble brewing I fear. You must go to the Queen and bring her back. Only she can save our people now." said Markus, getting the Princess out of bed and into her wardrobe to dress.

"But, I don't even know where Alexa is." she said stepping out of the wardrobe a few minutes later in some travel clothes.

"Her Majesty is in Arendelle. Take these letters. This first one is to Queen Elsa of Arendelle, thanking her for informing us so quickly of Her Majesty's whereabouts and introducing you. This second letter is to Queen Alexa, telling her of the plot I suspect and begging her to come home at once. If she does not believe the letter, you must convince her to come home at all costs. Now go! Out the side door. There's a servant with your horse ready. Here are some supplies and a map. It should only take you about a week to reach Arendelle." said Markus, handing Hannah the two letters, a map tube, and a shoulder satchel.

"Ok. Goodbye, Markus." said Hannah as she hurried down the hall into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

As soon as she arrived home, Elsa had run right to her room to write and send a letter to Darrowdale to tell Markus where the Queen was. Alexa had explained that Markus, the Steward, was in charge and knew about her wings and powers and that he had been one of the few people who cared about her. Elsa sent the letter by a trained falcon, since she knew the bird could make it there and back in two days. The bird retuned empty clawed and Elsa figured that Markus had been too overjoyed to know where the Queen was to send a reply and that whoever he sent would probably have some sort of letter of introduction.

"Well, now we have about a week to get Alexa to decide to return home." she said to Anna, who was in the room with her reading a book.

"Yeah, somehow I get the feeling she's not gonna listen to us, but ok." said Anna, setting the book down.

"We're not going today, I've got work I need to catch up on. But we will go the day after tomorrow." said Elsa, turning to the never-ending stack of papers on her desk.

"Ok! Until the day after tomorrow then." said Anna, turning back to her book so Elsa could concentrate on her work.

Elsa smiled. It was comforting to have Anna's presence in the room, it reminded her she wasn't alone any more, and she got to spend time with her sister while getting her work done.

Meanwhile, Alexa was experimenting with her powers. She instinctually knew the basics, but now she was working on combining two or three powers to produce a new effect.

"HA!" she thrust out her right hand, sending a rush of flames at an ice pillar.

The pillar melted slightly, but otherwise remained intact.

"Hmph! That was supposed to be augmented by lightning. Oh! That's right! The fourth law of magic. 'Opposite elements cannot be used in conjunction with each other,' and lightning is part of water. Well, storms anyway. Let's try combining wind and rock." said Alexa, readying the next experiment.

This time it worked. Too well. Alexa had to throw up a protective shield to keep from being brained by the barrage of rocks the tornado spit out in all directions. She eventually was able to stop it and decided that, while it might be an effective technic against an invading army, it probably wasn't a very good idea to practice it so close to her palace. She actually had to repair several places with her healing powers.

This tired her to where she decided to move on to exercises in simpler, weaker magic. These exercises consisted mostly of boiling water, then lowering the temperature to a certain level or freezing water, then causing it to melt at a certain rate. Alexa also gave herself a very few multi-tasking exercises and exercises in launching multiple bits of magic in rapid succession while still maintaining control. By doing this, Alexa trained herself to control her abilities to a very fine degree, ensuring that she wouldn't lose control in the heat of battle or due to her emotions, but it would take time for her to master it and probably wouldn't always work in cases of very extreme emotion. She then took a break before moving on to a normal combat training session.

Alexa lay on the ground recovering her strength and considering what she had learned. She had always known the basic laws of magic instinctually, but now, she was seeing their real world effects. She was stronger than most humans, but that rock spewing tornado had taken a lot out of her. Then having to repair her palace had tired her even further, to the point where she could only control the weakest of her magic and that didn't even last long as she lost control over a simple raincloud and was forced to stop and rest before moving on the normal combat training.

Alexa had been learning not only how to run a kingdom, but how to defend it in battle as well. She had always been a tomboy and loved learning the theory of swordplay and all manner of weaponry (which she secretly practiced in her room). However, she had to stop practicing archery in her room when she almost got caught from all the strange little dents in her walls and the occasional arrow sticking out of the one of bed posts. Now, she could really practice.

After a few hours rest and a light snack, Alexa decided to start with archery and crafted a target and a bow and arrows out of wood. The arrows she tipped with obsidian stone, perfectly shaped and lethal sharp. She nocked an arrow on the vine bowstring, aiming as she drew the leaf-fletched shaft to her jaw, and released all in one smooth motion. The shot was straight and true. Alexa grinned with pride in her skill, seeing the arrow stuck dead center in the target. She shot another arrow, landing it right next to the previous shot, and the next and the next and the next, until the target was completely covered in arrows. Alexa then used her powers to make the target, bow, and arrows disappear.

Next she moved on to swordsmanship. She could sense there were various ore deposits and gem stones in the mountain under her feet. Using her powers of earth, she was able to extract some of the iron and silver ore and with her powers of fire, refine it and forge it into a sword of steel with a silver hilt. Using her spring powers, she crafted a ruby red hardwood grip for her sword. Having been crafted with her magic, by her own hands, the hand-and-a-half straight bladed sword was the perfect balance and felt like an extension of her body as she swung it through the air. She finished off the hilt by embedding a large ruby (which she had magically extracted from the mountain) in the pommel and magically etching the words, _'I am Larendale.'_ (Light of the West) onto the cross guard in black letters.

Yes. This was her sword, forged by her own hands with her own magic. It would never leave her side in battle and she would never take another. Being an enchanted blade, Larendale would never dull, rust, or break, and would therefore outmatch any sword put against it, unless that blade too was enchanted. Anyway, Alexa then crafted a sheath for Larendale out of steel and silver, coloring the main part of the scabbard red, accented with silver hardware at the tip and throat.

Alexa then began her sword practice in earnest. She practiced slowly at first, but then gradually sped up until she was a dark and silver blur on the mountainside. She slashed, parried, blocked, thrust, spun, ducked, jumped, pommel struck, and flowed through all manner of combos, hacking, crushing, and impaling invisible foes.

One might think Alexa's wings would get in the way, but in fact, they were quite useful as weapons themselves. Alexa could knock multiple opponents over with her wings and fend of blows from behind as well as above and to the sides. She could also take flight at any time during a battle and rain down blows on her opponents from above.

As she practiced, Alexa felt the pain, anger, and rage that had been locked in her chest for the past twenty-one years start to rise in her. It burned and blazed and threatened to consume her! Alexa focused those emotions into her training, pushing herself harder and harder, 'til she suddenly threw her sword at an invisible enemy with a scream of rage! Fire erupted from her hands and shot into the sky as she released a raging pillar of flame above her head.

After that outburst, Alexa felt drained. Emotionally, physically, she was drained. She fell to her knees and moaned in agony. She knelt there, sitting on her legs, her fists clenched, and her body bowed over her knees in an expression of pain and anguish. She stayed like that for some time, a small raincloud forming over her and dropping a dripping rain on her in response to her miserable sorrow. Eventually, she calmed, the cloud disappearing with her sufficient change in mood, stood, picked up Larendale, and headed inside. Her evening meal was lonely and she wished her sister was with her.

Meanwhile, Hannah was riding swiftly through the eastern woods of Darrowdale, her thoughts consumed with finding her sister and bringing her home. However, she was forced to stop for the night as her horse was tired and so was she, though she would rather push on. But, she wouldn't push her horse too far, lest she should lose more time or worse.

Finding a sheltering cave, Hannah dismounted and cared for her horse, removing her tack and rubbing her down, then giving the mare her feed bag. Only then did she build a fire and see about her own supper. She looked in the satchel Markus had given her and found hardtack, dried meat, dried fruit, and some cheese. She had the cheese and a little bit of the dried fruit, then wrapped herself in her wool travel cloak and curled up by the fire to sleep.

The next day Hannah had a quick breakfast of hardtack, put out the fire, looked to her horse, refilled her water skins from a nearby spring, and set off again. Looking at the map, she saw that Arendelle was pretty much a straight shot east, so she followed the rising sun and went as quickly as she could without wearing out her horse.

_"Oh, Alexa! How could I have been such a blind fool! All those years I thought you stayed away because you hated me. But now I know you were only trying to protect me. I only hope I am not too late." _thought Hannah as her horse galloped through the forest, sensing her owner's great urgency.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

_She was running! Running yet she couldn't get away! She could hear the footfalls of her pursuers getting closer, closer… She could hear the shouting now, the names they called her were hurled at her on the winds!_

_ "Monster!"_

_ "Demon!"_

_ "Creature of darkness!"_

_ "Witch!"_

_ Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath her and she was falling, falling…_

Alexa jerked awake screaming! She sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and breathing heavily.

"A dream. It was just a dream. Just a nightmare, that's all." she said, trying to shake the effects of the nightmare off.

As she sat there she noticed her wings were limp and felt drained. Heck, her whole body felt drained, emotionally, physically, she was exhausted.

"I'm broken." she said in a voice that sounded normal, but carried the weight of too many years behind it. "Broken and bruised. Wounded and weary. Scraped and scarred. I need time, but more than that, I need someone. Someone I should have turned to years ago."

With that, she got out of bed and wearily walked to the balcony and looked up into the star filled sky. Her wings dragged uncomfortably behind her, still limp and listless, but she didn't mind that so much as she stood there looking into the night sky, letting the cool night breeze blow through her hair.

As she stood there she prayed this prayer,

"Lord, I need You, now more than ever. I gave my life to You as a young child, but I didn't fully understand at the time just what that meant. Now, I give my life to You again, I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that You, O God, raised Him from the dead. I trust You. Please help me to heal and show me what You would have me do."

As Alexa finished the prayer, she felt a calm peace such as she hadn't felt in a long time, wash over her, soothing her tired and aching heart as the cool breeze did her body. Alexa smiled as she turned around and went back to bed. As she crawled under her blanket, she seemed to hear a fatherly voice in the darkness whisper,

"I have always been with you and I always will be."

"I know. Thank you… Heavenly Father." she whispered back as her eyes drifted closed and she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Down in Arendelle, Elsa was awakened by the thunderstorm that had swept down from the mountain. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled. But this was no ordinary storm. The lightning was blue and the whole thing smelled of magic.

_"Alexa. She must be having a nightmare."_ thought Elsa, sympathetically.

She remembered when she had nightmares before she had control of her powers. She'd wake up the next day or in the middle of the night locked in her room due to the thick sheet of ice that covered her door. She was startled out of her remembrance by a knock on her door.

"Hey, Elsa? Are you awake?"

It was Anna. Anna had always been afraid of thunderstorms, while Elsa rather liked them. Anyway, she couldn't very well leave Anna out there alone in the dark, so Elsa stood and lit the candle on her nightstand and walked over to her door.

She opened it saying, "Yeah. Come in, Anna."

Anna came in clutching her pillow and blanket to her chest, her eyes looking very frightened. She went strait over to Elsa's bed and curled up into a ball, pulling her blanket tight around her frame. Elsa walked over and, setting the candle down on her nightstand, sat in front of her sister and gently rubbed her back. Anna looked up at Elsa, the fear still prominent in her blue eyes, and snuggled closer to her.

"Shh. It ok. It's just a storm." said Elsa as Anna let out a scared whimper at the thunder crash.

"This is not just a storm. There's something different about this one. It doesn't seem natural." Anna whimpered, her face buried in her pillow.

Elsa sighed, "You're right. This isn't just a natural thunderstorm. I think Alexa is having a nightmare. This whole thing feels like her magic."

Anna looked up at Elsa, a new expression in her eyes. The fear was mostly gone, replaced by concern.

"Will she be ok?" Anna asked.

"I hope so." said Elsa looking out the window towards the North Mountain.

After a few more minutes, however, the storm vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Anna sighed in relief and Elsa smiled a relieved smile.

"I think she's ok now. I don't think there'll be any more magic-induced thunderstorms tonight." said Elsa, slipping under her covers.

"Elsa?" said Anna.

"Yes, Anna. You can stay with me." said Elsa, smiling at her sister.

"Thank you!" said Anna, slipping under the covers next to her sister and wrapping her right arm around her.

The two sisters fell asleep, each happy to have the other's company.

Alexa woke the next day feeling much better, if lonely. After breakfast, she had a training session. She learned several new things about her magic powers, one of which was the ability to create golems of various elements and command them like puppets. She couldn't bring them to life like Elsa, but she could use them for sparring practice. They weren't really good for much else, for she could only control two at once and they had to be of the same element. Also, the further away from her they got, the harder it was for her to control them. If they got too far away, they would simply dissipate.

After her training session, Alexa sat on a cliff looking out over the northern lands, idly making pictures with her magic. She wasn't really using any of the elements, just the different colored magic sparkles that represented each. Green was spring, greenish-yellow was summer, amber (a slightly orangey-yellow) was fall, light blue was winter (like Elsa's), red was fire, brown was earth, white was wind, blue was water, gold was healing, and orange was protection.

As she sat there, Alexa created pictures of whatever took her fancy at the moment. A bird in flight, a man fishing, a knight on horseback, a mighty mountain, etc. But then, she created an image that bestirred old and somewhat painful memories. Alexa had sunk into a kind of idle stupor. She idly, half subconsciously, sketched with her magic the face of her sister Hannah. The picture reminded Alexa of everything that had passed between them at the coronation party and all the years before that. Alexa sighed and made the image vanish, watching sadly as the magic sparkles danced away on the winds.

"Hannah, how I wish things could be different. What I wouldn't give to be able to come home and be with you again." she said, standing and taking to the sky.

Hannah meanwhile, was making good time through the forest. So far, she had met with fair weather and no dangers. However, the traveler should never count on luck as an ally, for sooner or later they are bound to run into trouble.

Hannah had stopped for a brief rest in a pleasant meadow and was just going to start again, when she heard the sound of a wolf pack nearby. She quickly swung into the saddle and urged her horse into a eastward gallop! The horse needed no urging, for she had no intention of becoming a meal for a hungry wolf pack and broke into a lightning fast gallop!

"Hurry, Indlefir! We have to reach the pass before they cut us off!" cried Hannah, urging her horse on.

Indlefir redoubled her speed, flying over the trail to the mountain pass that led to Arendelle. The wolves howled from behind them, causing horse and rider to do everything in their power to go faster! Soon, Hannah could see the bounding shapes of the wolves as they pursued them. These were the great mountain wolves, which could run as swiftly as the reindeer they hunted and out run most horses. But Indlefir wasn't most horses. She was a unique mountain horse of Darrowdale! Stronger, faster, and more sure-footed than any other breed of horse in the world!

She could keep ahead of the wolf pack, but she couldn't maintain that speed for long. The wolves could outdistance her at speed, but if she could get through the pass before them, there was a chance of shaking the wolves at the river. Indlefir galloped for all she was worth, zipping around trees, leaping over logs, her rider ducking under low hanging branches. Soon the pass was in sight. If she could but get there first…

The wolves howled again, but Indlefir was in sight of her goal! She surged forward with a final burst of speed and narrowly made it to the pass, leaping clear over the first half of the wide river that served as the boundary between Arendelle and Darrowdale. She landed on a large flat rock in the center of the river and gathered herself up into another mighty bound, leaping to the other side. Then and only then did Indlefir stop and turn around.

The wolves prowled along the opposite bank, growling and snarling that their prey had escaped. They were too large and heavy to leap the crossing and didn't think their meal worth a battle with the swift-moving river, so they turned and left to find easier prey.

Hannah breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well done, Indlefir. Well done, girl." she said patting her horse affectionately on the neck.

Indlefir nickered in response, then turned around and resumed their eastward journey, albeit at a trot rather than a gallop.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: It was brought to my attention that Alexa was too powerful. I have tried to rectify that, though I'm not sure that I succeeded. Anyway, I have gone back and rewritten all the previous chapters to include at least a little more detail and hopefully give Alexa some clearer, less invincible limitations for her powers. If I still haven't succeeded, I may just have to wait 'til after winter semester for college this year to try again, as I will be too busy with school to write much if at all.**

Chapter 8.

The next day, Elsa and Anna made the trek up to Alexa's tree palace. Alexa was very happy to have company as being alone was starting to become very boring and depressing.

"Elsa, have you ever considered practicing using your magic in combat?" she asked suddenly.

Elsa was surprised by the question and somewhat at a loss as to how to reply.

Anna however, had no such encumbrance and promptly said, "Elsa doesn't need to practice with her magic! It's so natural, she doesn't even have to think about it to use her magic."

Alexa smiled at Anna innocence.

"That may be so, but even still, all magic users should practice with their powers. The more you practice, the better your control." said Alexa.

"So, I guess you need more practice controlling your powers, eh?" said Anna, an odd look in her eyes.

"Anna, don't." warned Elsa, knowing full well what her sister was going to say.

"Don't what?" asked Alexa, her expression turning to one of concern.

"Elsa doesn't want me to tell you that your nightmare last night caused a thunderstorm in Arendelle." said Anna.

Alexa looked distressed and disappointed.

"Oh." was all she said.

Anna, seeing the look on her face, regretted her words and said, "But it went away as soon as you woke up. At least, I think it did. I'm sorry, Alexa."

"No, no. I'm glad you told me. Hmmm. This does mean I need more practice. That nightmare did stir some pretty intense emotions in me. I figured my powers had gone off, for the air felt like a thunderstorm had passed when I woke up." said Alexa, looking thoughtful.

"Maybe we should practice together? I know I could use it and it might be helpful to learn how to combat other elements." said Elsa.

Alexa smiled gratefully. "That would be lovely." she said.

They faced off on a patch of bare flat land. Alexa started the lesson by explaining that magic is directly tied to one's will and one's imagination as well as one's emotions and physical strength. She started with simple fire attacks that Elsa could easily counter. As they progressed and Elsa improved, Alexa moved on to more complicated attacks. However, instead of simply increasing the intensity of her fire attacks like Elsa expected, Alexa switched elements and attacked with earth. Elsa was still able to counter, but it was more difficult. Water was no problem since ice was simply frozen water. Wind however, was another matter entirely. Elsa completely failed to counter Alexa's wind attack and was blown over onto her back.

She was uninjured however, and insisted on trying again. Alexa obliged, but the result was the same. Elsa was stubborn and _would_ conquer this obstacle if it was the last thing she did! She paused for a moment to think. As she thought, she considered the differences between wind and ice. Then it dawned on her!

"I haven't been able to counter your attacks because wind is air, so you can't stop it with a direct counter attack. Attack me again. I know what to do." said Elsa, readying herself.

Alexa launched her attack again and this time, instead of trying to freeze the wind itself, Elsa threw up a wall of ice that the wind was split against and passed by harmlessly on either side of her. She smiled, proud of her accomplishment.

Alexa smiled too, proud that her friend was able to succeed. Anna clapped and whistled, cheering for her sister.

"That was amazing! I wish I had magical powers, then we could all practice together!" she said exuberantly.

"You know, magic isn't the only form of combat." said Alexa, a sly twinkle in her eyes.

"You mean?" Anna asked, wondering if Alexa was thinking what she thought she was thinking.

Alexa nodded. "Yep. How would you two like to learn swordsmanship?" she said, confirming Anna's suspicions.

"All right! I've always wanted to learn how to sword fight!" exclaimed Anna, leaping into the air.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Joan of Arc would it?" said Elsa with a teasing look.

"Well… Maybe just a little." Anna admitted.

Alexa chuckled and got to work crafting swords for Anna and Elsa that were equal to Larendale. Elsa's grip and scabbard she colored ice blue, with a gold hilt and gold at the throat and tip of the scabbard. Anna's she colored emerald green, with silver. The swords were both straight blades, but they were only one-hand instead of hand-and-a-half. In the pommel of Elsa's golden hilt, she embedded an ice blue diamond and in Anna's silver one she embedded an emerald.

Elsa and Anna were astounded with the gifts and at first were a bit hesitant to accept them. But Alexa insisted and they knew they could not refuse.

"So, what are you going to name them?" Alexa asked.

"Huh?" both sisters asked in confusion.

"Your swords. What are you going to name them, so I can inscribe it on the cross-guards." Alexa clarified.

Elsa and Anna thought about names for their swords for a while. Alexa was patient. She had all the time in the world.

"Lindurel." Elsa said finally.

"Ice Blade. Aptly chosen." said Alexa, placing her hand over Elsa's and guiding her to infuse the sword with her own magic, making it truly her own.

The words _I am Lindurel_ were magically etched on the hilt in silver letters.

Anna thought a few more minutes before saying, "Sword, I name thee, Sunfir. Sun Blaze." holding it above her head in a warrior pose.

Alexa smiled and placed her hand over Anna's, allowing her magic to flow through Anna's hand, making the sword fit her hand and body perfectly. The words _I am Sunfir_ were magically etched on the hilt in gold letters.

"You both now have swords that are equal to Larendale. These swords will never break, dull, or rust. They are indestructible and impervious to magic. No sword can stand against them, unless that blade too is magic. How do you like them?" asked Alexa.

"They're beautiful. I don't know what to say. These are truly remarkable gifts, Alexa. Thank you." said Elsa, looking at Alexa with a somewhat awed expression.

"Yeah! Thanks! Now teach us how to use these things." said Anna swinging her sword around.

"Hold on there, Anna! Let me put protective shields over them first." said Alexa casting protective shields over all three blades. "Now, these can still break bone, but at least they won't slice your arm off at one blow. Now, let's begin." she said standing in an en garde position.

Elsa and Anna copied the position and waited for Alexa's next command. Alexa started them off slow, with just the basics. She first taught them the vertical slash, then the horizontal slash, then the cross slashes. Next was the thrust, then the simple parry and block. Once they had these moves down, Alexa started teaching them some simple combos.

"KI-YA! I'm ready!" exclaimed Anna, swinging her sword a little too hard and losing her grip.

Alexa caught it with a magic root and returned it to Anna. Anna took her sword sheepishly.

"Hehe. Oops." she said.

"Lesson number one, never lose your grip on your weapon. But don't lock it in a death grip either." said Alexa with a smile.

Alexa was a good and patient teacher, teaching her friends made her happy and so her powers didn't flare up or lash out. Elsa however, had an especially hard time relaxing and getting comfortable with the blade because she kept thinking, _'Could I really use this on someone?'_

Alexa came over and gently gripped over Elsa's hand saying, "Don't be afraid of the sword. Let it connect to you, like an extension of your arm." she said, gently guiding Elsa's hand and arm in the graceful movements.

As Elsa focused on letting the sword become an extension of her arm, she found it easier and easier to control. Soon she found she had gone through a set of combos that she had made up out of her head. All by herself! She hadn't even noticed when Alexa had let go and stepped away.

Alexa and Anna both clapped.

"Excellent job, Elsa! You learn quickly. I think you're ready for solo training. Soon you'll be ready for sparring." said Alexa, smiling warmly.

"What about me?" asked Anna.

"You are ready for sparring now. Your sister is going to take some time getting used to the idea of swinging a sword in selfdefense or in defense of those she loves, but come! Let us begin!" said Alexa, taking her standard en garde position.

Anna took her position and attacked. Alexa easily blocked the blow and countered. Anna managed to block it, but quickly realized that Alexa was far stronger and more agile than she was. She quickly counter attacked and ducked under Alexa's next blow, bringing her own sword up in an attempt to strike Alexa in the chest. Alexa dodged the blow and spun in a back-pivot, bringing her sword down on Anna's head before she could react. Alexa's sword only lightly touched the top of Anna's head, her control over her blade and body was perfect.

"And that blow would have killed you. You did well, for your first attempt. You should be proud of your accomplishment, Anna." said Alexa, looking proudly at her budding student.

Anna blushed at the praise and sheathed her sword.

"Yes, I think that's enough practice for today. You two should probably head back down the mountain, unless you want to stay the night." said Alexa, looking hopeful and taking the shields of the swords as she sheathed her own.

Elsa smiled and said, "Of course we'll spend the night."

Turning on her heel, the Snow Queen led the way to the castle.

Hannah was now making her way through the mountains that formed the border between Darrowdale and Arendelle. It would take her one more day to reach the other side of the pass and three or four days after that to reach the city of Arendelle. She made camp in a hollow in the side of the pass. The bright campfire lifted her spirits a bit, but all Hannah wanted was her big sister. She thought about what she knew of Alexa and pictured her as she had seen her the night of the ball. With that image in mind, Hannah curled up and drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9.

Over the next few days, Elsa and Anna made the trek up the mountain and spent the day with Alexa. They trained with their swords and Elsa and Alexa trained with their magic, but always before sunset, the two sisters would head back down the mountain. Today however, Elsa broached a subject she had been waiting until the right time to broach.

"Alexa, do you think you will ever return to your kingdom?" she asked, looking at Alexa trying to read her facial expression.

Alexa's face wore a thoughtful, yet sad countenance. Ever since her prayer the night of her nightmare and Elsa and Anna had been coming to visit her, she hadn't had another outburst of emotion-induced magic. She knew her power was better controlled than it had been, but she also knew she wasn't out of the woods yet. Her pain, anger, and sorrow were not gone, merely sleeping for the moment.

Finally she said, "Maybe, someday. But for the present, no. I am broken, I am bruised. My soul is crushed, my heart is torn. I need time. Time to heal, time to come to terms with my past, and time to find the hope of the future."

Elsa and Anna looked deeply, scrutinizingly, into Alexa's eyes. As they looked, it seemed as though Alexa was slowly baring her heart to them. They saw pain, anger, sadness, loneliness, and regret. All these things mixed and intermingled in a mass of swirling, clashing, blending storms of emotion. But, there was also hope, joy, and love. As they beheld this, the sisters saw Alexa's heart was indeed torn, bleeding, and scarred, but slowly was being made whole again.

Averting their eyes, Elsa and Anna apologized, feeling that they had seen too much.

"What are you apologizing for? If I hadn't wanted you to see, I would have concealed my heart from you. But I did want you to see, so that you may understand why I choose to remain here. At least for now." Alexa sighed, "I know I can't run and hide forever, but for now, I just need time."

Elsa walked over and pulled Alexa into a hug. Anna quickly joined and Alexa wrapped both her arms and wings around them. They just stood there for a long time, embracing each other, giving and receiving comfort. Alexa could feel the love these two bore for each other and even for her. It washed over and soothed her tired and broken heart, like a healing wave.

She released them and said, "Thank you, my friends. You have no idea how much your mere presence has helped me. It does my heart good to know I'm not the only one in the world who's ever felt like this."

Elsa smiled and said, "I'm glad we could help. Now, how about that sparring session you promised me?"

Alexa smiled and drew her sword.

Hannah was almost there. She had been traveling for five days now and had made good time. If the map was right, she'd reach Arendelle sometime tomorrow, assuming she didn't run into any more hazards. After the wolf chase to the pass, she and Indlefir had been double vigilant, but they hadn't come across any other dangers. Yet, Hannah couldn't shake the feeling that some great danger was just around the corner.

She was right.

As she and Indlefir were crossing a stream, Indlefir heard something big coming their way. She nickered worriedly and Hannah immediately scanned the area for anything dangerous. She soon heard the crashing of something big moving through the woods. Turning to her left, she saw a huge brown bear!

"Oh, great! First wolves, now a bear! A freaking bear!" she exclaimed, urging Indlefir into a gallop, again.

Indlefir ran and the bear, being a bad tempered fellow, gave chase. They fled through the forest, zigzagging through the trees. However, they didn't know the lay of the land and the bear managed to corner them at the base of a cliff face. Hannah however, was not one to give up and dismounting, grabbed a fist-sized stone and threw it at the bear. She was impressively strong for a girl and had impeccable aim. She struck the bear right on the nose, causing him to stop and blink for a moment. The bear then roared in pain and, seeing Hannah get another stone ready, turned and ran for his life!

"And don't come back!" Hannah yelled as she tossed the stone at the bear for emphasis.

She then mounted her horse again and continued on her way.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

Elsa woke and moaned. Every inch of her body was sore and she had several nice bruises on her arms, legs, and torso. Her sparring match with Alexa had been a painful experience. But it was her own fault really. She pushed herself too far, insisting that they continue even after she had been beaten seventeen times. The bruises were actually from her losing her footing and falling. Elsa had actually managed to out-klutz Anna, by tripping over her cape, falling onto the only rock large enough to sit on in a fifty foot radius of the arena, and then landing squarely on the blade of her own sword. Fortunately, Alexa had shielded them before hand, but it still smarted and now she had the bruises to prove it.

Elsa slowly, painfully, stood and proceeded through her morning routine. She pushed the pain out of her mind and went downstairs for breakfast.

Anna had beat her to breakfast this morning (Elsa had overslept, being tired from sparring with Alexa) and looked up at her sister with a sympathetic look.

"I told you to quit while you were ahead." she said, wincing as Elsa sat down painfully.

"I was not ahead." said the Snow Queen.

"In regards as to how much pain you'd be in the next morning, you were." said Anna, a knowing look on her face.

Elsa snorted. "Humph! I wish I had listened. I feel like I fell down the rockiest path on the mountain." she said, rubbing her sore upper arm.

"You know, Alexa did offer to heal you afterwards." said Anna.

"I wish I had accepted that offer." Elsa moaned.

Anna stood and walked over to her sister. She placed a liquid filled bottle in her hand.

"What's this?" Elsa asked.

"An ointment Alexa gave me after our second sparring session. It works. Just rub some of that stuff onto your bruises and they'll stop hurting. They'll also clear up in like, two days." said Anna.

"Thanks, sis. I'd hug you, but…" said Elsa, looking gratefully at her sister.

Anna smiled and said, "You're welcome, Elsa."

After breakfast, Elsa had returned to her room to try out the ointment Anna had given her. The instant she used it, it immediately took away the pain of her sore and stiff muscles. She left the stuff on her washstand and left for her first, er, actually second, meeting of the day.

Hannah rode into Arendelle sometime around noon. She didn't know whether to sigh in relief at finally arriving or gasp in wonder at finally seeing someplace other than Darrowdale. She did neither as she quickly spotted the castle and made her way there.

She rode up to the gates, which were wide open at this time of day, and dismounted. A hostler appeared and took her horse to the stables at once. Hannah was surprised, but Indlefir was more than happy to go with the nice man who smelled like horses and apples. Hannah, seeing her horse was in good hands, turned back to the castle and went inside. She was met by the steward Kai, who took the letter for Queen Elsa and ushered Hannah into a private room.

Kai then made his way to Queen Elsa's room, where she was looking over contracts and budgets. She looked up and smiled.

"Hello, Kai. What's that letter?" she asked, reaching out for it.

Kai handed her the letter and said, "Your Majesty, the person we were expecting from Darrowdale has arrived. This is the letter of introduction she brought with her."

Upon hearing that Elsa quickly tore open the letter and read it.

A look of shock came over her features and she rose quickly saying, "Have three horses made ready to take us up the North Mountain at once! Where did you leave the Princess of Darrowdale?"

Kai bowed and said, "She is waiting in the private audience chamber, Your Majesty. I shall have the horses made ready at your command."

Elsa nodded her thanks and left the room. She quickly made her way to the audience chamber, running into Anna on the way. Elsa quickly explained what had happened and Anna, upon hearing that Alexa's sister had come herself, followed Elsa to the room.

Hannah, upon hearing the door open, turned around and curtsied to the Queen saying, "Your Majesty. I am come to find my sister, Queen Alexa of Darrowdale, and convince her to return. Would you be so kind as to tell me where she is?"

Elsa said, "I shall do more than that. I and my sister Princess Anna, shall take you to her. But please, call me Elsa."

"As you wish, Elsa. Just call me Hannah." said Hannah, smiling.

"Good! Now let's go! We've got a family to reunite!" said Anna bouncing around, eager to get going.

Elsa smiled and led the way to the stables, where three fine horses were standing ready. They were Scandinavian horses, with white coats, black muzzles, 'socks', and stripes down their backs. Hannah caught a glimpse of Indlefir settled comfortably in a stall, munching on hay and oats.

Elsa caught the look and said reassuringly, "Your horse will be cared for while she rests from your long journey. She will be returned to you when you return home."

"I know. It's just, Indlefir has been my friend since I was six years old." Hannah sighed.

"I know the feeling." said Anna, rubbing her own horse's neck.

Hannah looked surprised. "You know of our past?" she asked.

Anna nodded. "Alexa told us her entire side of the story. Now come on! We want to get there before dark." said the exuberant Princess as she spurred her horse onward.

With horses, in good weather, and Elsa leading the way, it took them just under four hours to reach the palace. Hannah stared in wonder at what her sister had created! It was amazing! She walked with care up the steps to the main doors and entered with respect the hall Alexa now called home.

"Alexa?" Hannah called out, wondering if her sister was even home.

"Hannah?" came Alexa's voice from the stairs.

The scene was so much like the one between Elsa and Anna that the two sisters stared flabbergasted!

"What are you doing here?" asked Alexa, looking distressed, fear beginning to well up inside her.

"I've come to bring you home." said Hannah, not understanding why her sister looked so distressed to see her.

"I can't. Goodbye, Hannah." said Alexa turning and heading back up the stairs.

"Yes, you can. I know you're just trying to protect me, but you don't have to. I'm not afraid." said Hannah following. Suddenly she started singing,  
_"Please don't shut me out again!  
Please don't slam the door.  
You don't have to keep your distance any more.  
'Cause for the first time in like ever,  
I finally understand.  
For the first time in like ever,  
We can go home hand in hand._

_ You don't have to live alone now,  
Isolated by your fear,  
'Cause for the first time in like ever,  
I will be right here."_

Alexa turned and sang,  
_"Hannah, please go back home. Your life awaits.  
Go spread your sunshine and open up the gates.  
I know, you mean well, but leave me be.  
Yes I'm alone, but I'm alone and free!  
Just stay away and you'll be safe from me."_

Hannah said, "But I don't want to be." She then sang,  
_"And actually we're not."_

Alexa,  
_"What do you mean you're not?"_

Hannah,  
_"Oh! That's right! You still don't know!"_

Alexa,  
_"What do I not know?"_

Hannah,  
_"I think someone means to take over the throne."_

Alexa gasped, "What?!"

Hannah held out the envelope addressed to Alexa from Markus and said, "Markus sent me to find you in the middle of the night six days ago. He didn't tell me what was going on, but he gave me this letter to give to you and said that if you didn't believe the letter that I had to get you to come back home no matter what. He doesn't know it, but I speak fluent Markus and if I know Markus, someone's plotting to seize the throne by force."

Alexa snatched the envelope and tore it open. She quickly read the contents and gasped!

"What is it?!" Elsa and Anna exclaimed at once.

Hannah however was silent. She knew her guess was right.

Alexa's face had gone deathly pale from its normal suntanned color as she stared at the sheet of paper in her hand. When she looked up, her eyes were kindled with a fire that had never been there before and color returned to her cheeks.

"I'm going back. My people need me." she said moving to go.

Hannah suddenly stepped in front of her and said, "Not without me you're not!"

"Hannah, please. It's too dangerous. Stay here with Elsa and Anna. Look after her." said Alexa looking at Hannah and then at Elsa, who nodded and moved to place a hand on Hannah's shoulder.

Hannah shrugged Elsa's hand off and clung to her sister.

"No! I will not be separated from you again!" she cried.

Alexa sighed, seeing there was no dissuading her.

"Fine. Hold on." she said, readying to take off.

"Wait! What has happened in Darrowdale? What can we do to help?" asked Elsa.

Alexa handed Elsa the letter saying, "Read, but look to your own borders. If I should fail, I would not be surprised if the Duke looked to conquer Arendelle next."

With that, Alexa took to the sky, with Hannah hanging onto her for dear life!

Once they were out of sight, Elsa and Anna read the letter.

This is what it said,

_'To Queen Alexa of Darrowdale,_

_ Your Majesty,_

_ I have stumbled across a plot to seize the throne of Darrowdale by force. The Duke of Southmire seeks to become king and has enlisted the help of the Duke of Weaseltown. I fear that their plot will succeed unless you stop them. The Duke of Southmire has a mighty force and could easily take Darrowdale, unless you are here. Only you, my dear Queen, can stop this plot and keep Darrowdale free. The Duke is a hard man and would be a tyrannical ruler. It is up to you to see that he never takes the throne._

_ Please hurry!_

_ Your faithful servant and Steward,_

_ Markus Lynhime.'_

Elsa and Anna both gasped! No wonder Alexa had gone pale!

"What do we do, Elsa?" asked Anna.

Elsa looked up, her eyes shining with icy resolve.

"We look to our own borders. There is nothing we can do for Alexa except pray." she said turning to leave.

Anna followed her sister and they returned to Arendelle.

Hannah slowly opened her eyes. When she looked down she saw the ground was many hundreds of feet below! She yelped and clung tighter to her sister.

Alexa smiled and said, "You don't have to hold on so tightly."

"I'll fall!" said Hannah. She wasn't normally bothered by heights, but this was a bit much even for her.

"Would I let you fall?" said Alexa.

Hannah took a deep breath and loosened her hold on Alexa a little. Then she noticed that Alexa had her arms wrapped securely around her. She let go and managed to turn around, so her back was now against Alexa's chest. Alexa kept a secure hold on her sister, hugging her snuggly to her body. Thus secured, Hannah could now enjoy the flight. She marveled at the ease with which Alexa flew, her strong wings beating a steady rhythm. She watched the ground pass swiftly beneath them, faster than a horse could gallop. The feeling of flight was so amazing!

"Wow, Alexa! How can you stand to land when flying is so amazing!" she asked.

Alexa laughed. "I have to eat and sleep." she said smiling.

Soon they saw Darrowdale Castle in the distance. Alexa flew in through an open upstairs window. She released Hannah and told her to stay in the castle. Before her sister could argue, Alexa took off again, flying to the docks, where she had spotted several ships and the army of Darrowdale.

Alexa swooped down and landed in between the soldiers and the ships. She faced the ships and spread her wings in a protective gesture.

"Stand back." she told the soldiers, but they seemed to think _her_ a bigger threat than the invading ships.

"I said, stand back!" said Alexa again, this time throwing up a protective magic shield that pushed the soldiers back into the town and spread to encompass the city in an orange dome.

"Well, well. So the wandering Queen returns. Do you really think you can hope to win against me?" said the Duke of Southmire looking smug.

"I don't _think_ I can defeat you, I _know_ I can defeat you." said Alexa.

"Is that right? You and what army? Yours seems to think _you_ more of a threat than me." said the Duke.

Alexa glanced back. The soldiers were pounding on the shield, trying to get out to kill her. Alexa sighed.

"They don't understand. But even if they never do, I am bound by my duty, not only as Queen, but as a human being with the power, to do something!" said Alexa, her eyes blazing! Her single desire was to protect her home and people and that love granted her control over her powers.

The Duke was not phased. He foolishly believed he could take out Queen Alexa with ease. He had his men ready their crossbows and fire at Alexa! Alexa launched into the sky. She was too fast and too nimble for the crossbowmen to hit her. She counter attacked with her fire magic, burning and melting the weapons of the men. She also used her sword to defend herself from the occasional arrow that got too close, for the Duke also had archers. The Duke frowned when he saw how badly his forces were fairing against the enraged Alexa. He ordered the port-side cannon fired twice.

"That's the signal! Full speed ahead!" exclaimed the Duke of Weselton.

When he saw what was happening though, he ordered his forces to retreat like the coward he was.

"Arg! That little weasel! He'll pay for this!" exclaimed the Duke of Southmire when he saw the Weselton ships retreating. "Bring out the secret weapon!" he ordered one of his men.

"Yes, sir!" cried one of the sailors.

The man handed the Duke a crossbow. It was loaded with a single bolt of unusual design. From the tip came a faint stream of blue haze, rather like Elsa's or Alexa's ice magic. Alexa was too distracted by all the men she had to deal with to notice him. The Duke took careful aim and fired as Alexa batted away an arrow, exposing her chest. His shot was straight and true.

Alexa screamed as the bolt pierced her heart! It at once began to freeze it and she fell out of the sky, her sword was knocked from her hand. When Hannah saw what had happened, she ran to the edge of the shield and cried, pounding on it to get out and to her sister. Alexa, despite the pain in her chest, pushed herself back up and, gathering all her remaining strength, launched one final attack on the ships of Southmire. A raging flame erupted from Alexa, engulfing the invading ships in flames and melting the enemy weapons, but leaving the men unharmed. Alexa then collapsed.

The fire on the ships sputtered and died and the protective shield around the city fell and Hannah ran to her sister. She held Alexa in her arms and sobbed aloud, for Alexa lay as though dead. Hannah, still sobbing, pulled the bolt out of Alex's chest and threw it away, then held her sister in her arms again. The people of Darrowdale, seeing what their Queen had done for them, now saw Alexa as she truly was. Not a monster, but a kind and loving person, who willingly gave her own life so that they could remain free and safe. They bowed their heads in grief and shame, shedding silent tears for their fallen monarch.

"Hey, if your gonna cry, save it for the real funeral." said a weak voice.

"Alexa?!" said Hannah looking down to see her sister looking back up at her, smiling weakly.

"Oh, Alexa! You're alive!" exclaimed Hannah hugging her sister tightly.

"Oof! Not so tight! I can't breathe!" Alexa exclaimed weakly.

"Sorry. I'm just so happy you're not dead." said Hannah releasing her death grip on Alexa.

"You and me both. But right now, I would really like to go to bed." said Alexa yawning.

"Sure thing, sis." said Hannah, helping her sister to stand and walk towards the castle.

Seeing their Queen rise and walk weakly, leaning heavily on her sister, the people of Darrowdale cheered! They quickly hushed, though, after a glare from Princess Hannah. They parted and let the sisters walk to the castle in peace.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

The next day, Elsa received a letter.

It read,

'_To Queen Elsa of Arendelle,_

_ Greetings,_

_ The Duke of Southmire has been defeated and no longer poses a threat to either of our nations. You and Princess Anna are hereby cordially invited to spend a week in Darrowdale, at your convenience, as the honored and Royal guests of Queen Alexa and Princess Hannah of Darrowdale._

_ Please come soon, Hannah is dying to show Anna around and swap life stories._

_ Your friend and neighbor,_

_ Queen Alexa of Darrowdale._

_ P.S. Don't worry about the river pass crossing. I bridged it so that two large carriages can pass with room to spare. Also, the mountain wolves will not be a problem. I relocated them to the far northeast, where they have everything they need.'_

Elsa was pleased that her friend had taken the crown again and was thrilled to receive the invitation. She promptly wrote to Alexa to accept and say that she and Anna would be able to come immediately.

Anna was apparently just as excited as Hannah. She could barely sit still the entire trip! In the carriage on a good road (which the all road builders of all the lands of Darrowdale were very enthusiastic in building), it only took them three days to reach Darrowdale Castle. As soon as they arrived, hostlers came to tend the horses (Elsa and Anna had also brought Idlefir, who was very happy to be home) and servants came for the bags. Elsa and Anna were shown into the great hall and were left alone for a few minutes.

Alexa and Hannah soon appeared to welcome their guests. Alexa was wearing a fire red tunic and black trousers today, along with her crown and her usual pair of black leather boots and belt. Her hair was down in its usual loose mane. Hannah was wearing a simple rose colored dress, with a gold floral pattern and sturdy black ankle boots. Her hair was in her usual double braids, very similar to Anna's, except Hannah's hair was golden blond and a bit longer.

Hannah and Anna at once ran and embraced each other, while their elder sisters walked towards each other and curtsied. Well, Elsa curtsied while Alexa bowed her head. They then threw formality to the wind and embraced laughing.

"Ah! I'm glad you two could come so soon! Now you can join in the celebration!" said Alexa beaming with joy.

"Celebration?" Elsa asked.

"Yes. Tonight there is to be a celebration of our victory over the Duke of Southmire. Nothing fancy, just a small banquet and an informal ball." said Alexa waiving it off as no big deal.

"Queen Alexa, people are staring to arrive." said Markus, popping his head into the great hall.

"Oh! Right! I'm sorry, I won't be able to show you around or spend the whole day with you, but you see, I've been holding open audiences since the day before yesterday so that my people can get to know me. Hannah will show you around if you like." said Alexa waiting for a reply.

"If you don't mind, I think I'd like to stay and watch. Maybe I could learn a thing or two." said Elsa.

Alexa smiled and said, "That would be wonderful." She gestured to Markus and said in a clear loud voice, "Open the doors!"

Hannah and Anna scurried off to see everything and swap life stories, while the older girls waited in the great hall. Elsa sat in a chair near the back of the room and watched as Alexa stood and shook hands and answered questions and just talked with her people. No topic was to menial for her, no one was to low to escape her notice and receive her embrace. The people were shy and rather in awe of Alexa at first, but as she talked with them about their daily lives as though it were the most interesting and important topic in the world, they were quickly put at ease. In spite of her powers, Alexa had the ability to put others at ease around her. Her compassion and love for all people made it easy for others to trust her.

Elsa could clearly see that these audiences and talks endeared Alexa to her people and helped them to more fully understand her powers and her as a person. There was no question Alexa would not answer honestly about herself and her powers.

Sometimes she herself didn't know the answer to the questions, but she would always respond with something like, "I don't know the answer to that. I'm still learning about my powers myself. Let us find the answers together, eh?"

This open honesty and just her naturally friendly personality, endeared Alexa to her people like nothing else could. They felt close to her because she reached out to them and allowed them be close to her. She openly admitted her failings and shortcomings, she listened to their concerns and troubles and took them seriously. She quickly and fairly settled disputes and no one could say she was unfair or unjust in her rulings.

Once a man was brought in accused of stealing food from a shop in the village. The shop owner was very angry and demanded the death penalty. Alexa calmly inquired as to the _whole_ of the affair. The shop owner was all too glad to verbally beat down the man he had brought in, going into much exaggerated detail. Once he was done, Alexa turned to the thief and asked for his side of the story.

The man hung his head in shame and admitted he had stolen from the shop. Alexa gently pressed him for details as to _why_ he had done so. The man explained that he had once had a successful business, but that it failed and his three children were starving and he could find no work anywhere, even though he had tried. Alexa then asked for anyone who could corroborate this account to step forward. No one was forthcoming, for they knew the shop owner to be a hard man, who would take revenge on anyone who helped the man who had stolen from him.

Alexa frowned in disapproval and said, "If no one will step forward, then I shall have no choice but to condemn this man to a long prison sentence. If that happens and his story of having three starving children is true, they will die and their blood will be on your hands."

After some murmuring and uncomfortable shuffling among the crowd, at length a child spoke up, "He does have three kids. I play with them sometimes, but they haven't been around much and when they are, they're always too tired to play."

That was all Alexa needed to hear. She smiled approvingly on the boy who had the courage to speak, even when all the adults were too frightened of their neighbor to do so.

"You little brat! I"ll break your neck!" cried the shop owner moving towards the boy, murder in his eyes.

Suddenly he found himself seized by strong roots and face to face with the Queen! Alexa had used her spring powers to cause four strong tree roots to sprout from the ground, bind and lift the man, and bring him face to face with herself. The man struggled to get away, but the roots just tightened their hold on him as Alexa locked her blazing hazel eyes on the man. The shop owner felt as though those eyes were burning right through him, he was convinced he was going to die.

Alexa spoke, her voice calm and even, but loud enough so all could hear, "If you dare, touch that boy, I will personally hunt you down and lock you in the deepest, darkest cell in the dungeon. No one, who harms a child in any way in my kingdom shall go unpunished. Indeed, no one who harms his fellow man or woman in any way shall go unpunished. Even if by some chance you do escape punishment from me, know that you shall never escape punishment from the One whom even kings and queens, even the magical ones, must bow before. God sees all works and deeds of men and all shall be judged according to them on the Day of Judgement."

"Are you going to kill me?!" the wretched man asked as he hung there, his feet kicking two inches above the floor.

"No. I will let you go, but your shop I claim and give to the man whom you wanted to see dead, no doubt to make yourself feel self-righteous. Now go. Remember my warning, it shall not be repeated." said Alexa releasing the man, who collapsed at her feet and began to wail that he would be ruined.

He wept and implored and even tried to kiss her feet, but she motioned for the guards to take him away and he was hauled out of the castle, still begging the Queen to reconsider. Everyone who saw this was rather intimidated by the whole affair. Everyone made a mental note _not_ to get on the Queen's bad side. The boy who had spoken before and the man who had stolen however, came up to Queen Alexa. The boy hugged her and the man bowed before her thanking her profusely for her kindness and generosity. Alexa smiled and perching the boy on her shoulders, bid the man stand, go, and feed his children.

"Think no more of this. It is not my kindness that has saved your family, but the testimony of this young man here. If anyone deserves your thanks and appreciation, it's him, not me." she said grinning up at the young boy.

He shrugged and said, "It was no big deal. I couldn't let my friends starve."

Alexa laughed. Everyone was surprised! Why was the Queen laughing? Was it proper to laugh at such a time?

"Oh! How wonderful the mind of a child is! If only we all had their courage, loyalty, and simplicity, the world would be a much better place." she said smiling and setting the boy down, who then scampered back to his mother.

"My people! Know that my doors are always open to you. You may bring all your troubles and concerns here and I will do my best to help you. Also, feel free to share your joys and pleasures with me. I am not only concerned with your problems, but your successes and triumphs too. Speaking of triumphs, do not forget the victory celebration tonight! I also have two very special guests, from Arendelle tonight! May I present to you, Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" Alexa held out her hand for Elsa to join her.

Elsa stood and walked over, smiling benignly at the crowd. A genuine smile, not her typical queen smile. The crowd cheered and clapped and cried out, "Welcome, Queen Elsa of Arendelle! May your life be long and blessed with many children!"

Elsa blushed, suddenly quite shy.

Alexa squeezed her hand comfortingly and turned back to the people saying, "Queen Elsa and her sister Princess Anna of Arendelle are the main reason I was even able to return to you in your time of need. They helped me heal from the wounds of my past and even helped me understand my powers a little better. Henceforth and forevermore shall our lands be allies! Darrowdale shall come to the aid of Arendelle at any time, in any need. And I personally shall always and forever, be your friend, Elsa." She said the last words, looking straight into Elsa's eyes and Elsa could have no doubt of her sincerity.

She replied, "On behalf of Arendelle, I accept your alliance and offer Arendelle's in return. I too will always be your friend, Alexa."

Alexa smiled and said, "I accept Arendelle's alliance on behalf of the people of Darrowdale. Now, let us all prepare for the celebration tonight!"

Someone called out, "Queen Alexa! Shall we see your powers tonight?"

Alexa smiled and said, "I will give a small demonstration of my powers tonight. Until then, I bid you farewell."

Everyone left to make their preparations for the evening's festivities.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12.

That evening, Elsa, Anna, Hannah, and Alexa were getting ready for the celebration in Alexa's new room. She had wisely moved to a room much closer to Hannah's, right next door in fact. It had only recently been fireproofed, just in case.

Anyway, Hannah had changed to a royal blue short sleeved gown with a simple gold border at the hem of the skirt, sleeves, and collar, and black shoes. Alexa was wearing an orange tunic and brown pants with a black belt and black boots. Anna was wearing a green short sleeved gown with gold and black trim and green shoes. Elsa was wearing an ice dress. It was a deeper shade of blue than the one she made at her ice palace, had a wider skirt without a slit, and a long flowing cape. A pair of teal ice heels completed her outfit.

Alexa set her crown on her head and looked herself over in the full-length mirror on her wardrobe door with a more critical eye than usual.

"What do you guys think? Should I put my hair in a braid or just leave it down?" she asked.

"You look great, sis. Don't worry." said Hannah, putting an arm around her big sister.

Alexa chuckled and put her arm around Hannah, giving her a slight squeeze.

Elsa looked her over and said, "I think I like your hair better down. It makes you look more… natural."

"Thanks. I thought that too, but it never hurts to get a second opinion." said Alexa leading the way to the dining hall.

Many, many people were in the dining hall. From the highest to the lowest, all had been invited and all had arrived. Not all were seated in the dining hall though. Many people were seated in the great hall, where tables and chairs had been set up. The banquet was a relatively simple affair, the main focus being family and friends, not food.

Alexa bid everyone be seated and the staff served the guests first as per Alexa's instructions. From lowest to highest they went, honoring the poor of the city. Alexa then asked blessing and bid everyone enjoy themselves.

Elsa was impressed with Alexa's generosity and blatant disregard for rank tonight. She followed the teachings of the Bible and saw and treated all men as equal under God. She was an entirely new person from the broken and bruised girl she had been a few days ago. Now, she was tall, confidant, smiling, open, friendly, and just radiated love for all men. This giving and out pouring of love did more to heal Alexa than anything else could. For such is the way of love, it blesses both the giver and the receiver. However, Alexa was not perfect, but was somehow beautiful even in her imperfection. Elsa was happy to know such a promising ruler and to call her friend.

After the banquet, everyone went into the ballroom to dance and talk some more and have fun. Hannah was a favorite among the young men and Anna was feeling a bit left out, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"May I have this dance?" asked a blond young man in a fine suit.

Anna recognized him at once.

"Kristoff!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Queen Alexa was kind enough to invite me. Sven is out in the stables. Did you know they keep reindeers here?" he said holding her hand and leading her onto the dance floor.

"Yes, I did. Hannah showed me around earlier and I met all of them." said Anna laughing as she and Kristoff danced.

Kristoff smiled, happy that his private crash course in dancing with Alexa had helped.

Just then a bubbly voice exclaimed, "Hi! I'm Olaf! And I like warm hugs!"

Everyone in the ballroom stopped and stared in amazement as a living, talking snowman ran into the room. There were gasps and a few women even fainted, but Elsa quickly walked over and stood behind Olaf, placing a hand on his head.

She cleared her throat and said, "I can explain. Everyone, this is Olaf."

"Hi!" Olaf waived to all the people, smiling as always.

Elsa continued, "I built him a little over a month ago, when I fled my own coronation ball after my powers had been revealed. Olaf was built from my happy, love-filled memories from when Anna and I used to play together as children. I'm still not quite sure how he came to be alive, but, he is in essence a manifestation of my love and happiness." she smiled at Olaf, then quickly glanced at Alexa with a slightly apprehensive, apologetic look.

Alexa smiled widely and walked over to Olaf and Elsa, giving Olaf a big hug.

"Welcome to Darrowdale, Olaf." she said. "I hope you enjoy your stay. Everyone, do not be afraid of the talking snowman. He is harmless. In fact, you just might find him to be a good friend." said Alexa, smiling encouragingly at her people.

After that, everyone in the room said, "Hi, Olaf."

"Hi!" he said, happily wandering around, getting to know everyone who would talk to him.

The dancing resumed and Alexa and Elsa also danced. This time, Hannah was shocked to see just how well Alexa danced! She was amazing! Her partner had a hard time keeping up with her once she got going, but he didn't mind much. He was dancing with the Queen after all. Elsa was also a magnificent dancer, twirling and spinning with the grace of a skater. However, they only danced one dance each and stopped to watch the rest of the couples dance.

After the dancing there were shouts of, "Do the magic! Do the magic!"

Alexa held up her hands for silence, then cast bursts of colored magic into the air. Red fire magic exploded into tiny flames that soon flared out and died. Blue water magic caused a light sprinkle indoors, amber fall magic caused a shower of leaves, and lastly, a burst of green spring magic caused a shower of fragrant flowers to rain down on the crowd.

The performance was met with "oooos" and "aaahs" of wonder from the crowd as they beheld the beauty of their Queen's magic.

Alexa smiled and said, "I'm not the only one here gifted with magic. Let's not forget Queen Elsa and her powers of winter."

The crowd clapped and cheered for Elsa to show them her powers too. Elsa was rather self-conscious about showing off her powers, but Alexa gave her an encouraging nudge, so she took a deep breath and cast her magic into the air. A stream of light blue sparks exploded near the ceiling and caused a gentle snowfall that soon melted, but not without drawing even more "oooos" and "aaahs" from the crowd. They cheered and clapped and seemed like young children. They were happy to see these wonderful powers and loved their owners for them, but also for who they were as people.

Soon everyone left for their own homes. Kristoff had been invited to stay in Darrowdale Castle and he had agreed, since his ice business could wait a few days. Anna was thrilled to spend time with him since the two had been courting officially for the past two weeks. It had taken her that long to convince Elsa to let her court anyone, since her elder sister was rather over protective, especially after the Hans incident, but all's well that ends well.

Alexa had ordered the chamber next to Hannah's be prepared for Anna and the one next to her's be prepared for Elsa. They were on the same hall and the doors were no longer locked. In fact, Alexa had torn the door of her old room off its hinges the day after her victory over the Duke of Southmire. It had later been replaced after she remembered whoever used that room would probably want a door. She had promptly moved to the empty room next door to Hannah's, both to be closer to her sister and to get as far away from that blasted room that had been her prison for so long, as possible.

Anyway, before they all turned in, everyone was gathered in Alexa's room to hear her account of what happened at the harbor. Hannah had already told Anna, who in turn told Elsa, but Elsa wanted to hear it from Alexa and Kristoff and Olaf had yet to hear it.

Alexa took a deep breath and began,

"I flew to the harbor and told the soldiers to stand back so they wouldn't be hurt. However, they seemed to think I was the greater threat and began to turn on me. I threw up a protective shield and pushed them back into the city, spreading my shield to protect the entire city. I fought the Duke of Southmire and it was a fierce battle. I was getting the upper-hand and the Duke signaled the Duke of Weaseltown to come back him up.

However, that weasel of a Duke is also a coward. As soon as he saw my magic, he ordered his forces to retreat. After that, the Duke of Southmire managed to shoot me in the chest with an enchanted ice bolt while I was distracted fighting his men. It froze my heart, but since I have ice magic, it wasn't fatal. However, it did greatly weaken me. Being shot in the heart tends to do that to a person, but I did manage to launch one last attack that won the battle. I melted all their weapons.

However, the attack took so much out of me that I collapsed and blacked out. Everyone thought I was dead and my act of self-sacrifice caused the eyes of my people to be opened to the truth. My sister ran to me as soon as the shield collapsed and pulled the bolt out of my chest. Once it was out, my healing magic was able to repair enough of the damage to where I regained consciousness. Everyone rejoiced that I was not dead and I slept the rest of that day.

The next day, one of my soldiers returned my sword to me, since it had been knocked out of my hand when I fell to the ground after being shot and I had not retrieved it. I also found that the Duke and his men had been forced to stay on their ships to await my judgement. I cut off trade and all business with Southmire and banned the Duke and his men and anyone connected with him from ever setting foot in Darrowdale again, under pain of being immediately deported. I then summoned a wind to start them back home. After that, I wrote to Weselton, cutting of all trade and business with them and banning the Duke and his men and anyone connected with him from ever setting foot in Darrowdale again.

After having settled the score on all counts, I then wrote to you and took the rest of the day off, recovering and spending time with Hannah. The next day, I held my first open audience with my people."

When Alexa finished Elsa looked thoughtful.

"Hmmm. I never thought to ban the Duke of Weaseltown and Prince Hans from Arendelle. I shall have to correct that oversight." she said.

"Yes! Please do! I never want to see that lying, manipulating, murderous scumbag ever again!" Anna exclaimed, her blue eyes flashing in anger.

"Whoa there, feisty-pants! Calm down. No need to get so upset." said Kristoff, putting his arm around Anna.

Anna calmed down and smiled, snuggling close to Kristoff. Elsa rolled her eyes, but smiled. They were such a cute couple after all. Hannah yawned and suggested bed. Alexa and Elsa both agreed and so, everyone retired for the night. Anna and Kristoff shared a goodnight kiss, then he left for his own room, which was just a few doors down the hall. Anna fell asleep dreaming of wedding plans and white dresses. Olaf had wandered outside to tell Sven all about Alexa and Hannah and the ball.

Elsa, stood by her window and gazed out at the stars. She saw the Northern Lights were dancing in the sky.

"The sky's awake." she murmured to herself, remembering days long gone.

She sat on the window seat and cried. Old memories welled up in her and she wept for the time lost with her sister, the years of lonely isolation.

"You're not the only one." came a soft voice followed by a hand on her shoulder.

Elsa looked up to see Alexa standing beside her, tears of her own flowing down her face. Elsa stood up and threw her arms around Alexa, crying bitterly on her shoulder. Alexa held her, stroking her platinum blond hair and sitting down on the bench, pulling Elsa down beside her. Alexa looked out at the sky, her own painful memories welling up in her chest.

And thus the two young Queens sat, comforting and being comforted in the knowledge that they where not alone in their pain. Soon enough, their tears were spent and they parted for bed, feeling better for the friendship they shared.

The End.

**Author's Note: Or is it? I am trying a new writing technique where I treat each chapter like a one-shot. I will try to go in chronological order so the next story picks up right after this one ends. By the way, how did you like the way I finally managed to get Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf in here? See you in Tales of Family and Friends!**


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